She would do anything for him
by Laura T
Summary: Lornecentric. Some Sheyla. Thanks for all the great reviews please keep em comin. All are welcome.
1. Blue Eyes

**She would do anything for him.**

As I walked up the ramp of the _Daedalus _I realised just how lucky I was to be here. At 26 years old I'm a colonel in the USAF, the youngest. I got here on sheer determination and the will power to never give up. I sighed heavily and stopped just before I walked headlong into a scientist. He had just dropped his half of a big metal box on his own foot. As he was screaming in pain I said, "Go to the infirmary. I can carry this for you." He smiled and said thanks and headed to towards the infirmary hobbling.

I bent down and picked up his end of the metal box. As I looked up I saw a pair of blue eyes looking at me. I lifted the box as I straightened.

"Hi." I said.

"Hi. Thanks for helping me." Blue Eyes replied.

"Where we taking it?"

"Just down here." He replied pointing with his head. I followed him down the corridor to what appeared to be a closet. We didn't say anything as we walked which left me to do some gazing. He was around 5ft 8 or 9 with short brown hair and of course those baby blues of his.

I couldn't figure out if he was military, civilian or a scientist yet but I'm sure I would soon enough. We put the box down and walked out.

"I'm Lorne by the way." Blue Eyes said and held out his hand. Shaking his hand I replied "I'm Laura. Nice to meet you."

"Thanks again for helping me with that box."

"Not a problem. Listen I'm sorry but I got to go and put my crap away. If you need a hand with anything else feel free to find me." I smiled at him and dropped his hand and walked towards my temp quarters. I had taken the tour the day before so I wouldn't get lost.

I got to my quarters and unpacked the only things I would need for 18 days and my swimming costume. Deciding I was hungry I wondered towards the mess hall (or the _Daedalus_ version of it) for something to eat.

Picking up a ham and cheese sandwich I sat in the corner behind some columns. I was minding my own business when I heard

"I hear Atlantis is getting a new CMO." I froze. _Oh no! They can't be talking about me._

"I wonder what he's like." I let out a sigh of relief.

"I heard it was a she, and that she turned down General status."

"Yeah right! No female will ever be made General. Besides its got to be a male." I droned out the rest of the conversation. Deciding I was no longer hungry I decided I would go for a swim instead. Hurrying out I went to my quarters and changed. When I first found out that there was a swimming pool on a ship I thought it was very strange but Daniel had pointed out to me that not everyone likes to go to the gym, so the _Daedalus_ was retrofitted with a pool to accommodate everyone. Daniel was right.

I dived in and swam 100 lengths when I found a blow-up lilo. Clambering on to it I reflected on my life. All 26 years of it. My life had been pretty boring until I turned 15. I had decided that I wanted to join the USAF at that age. I rose quickly through the academy. I was considered a "genius" but I didn't think so. I was handpicked at the age of 18 by Major Samantha Carter to be one of the lucky ones to join the Stargate Programme.

**FLASHBACK:**

"Are you Laura Turner?"

"Yes ma'am. How can I help you?"

"Actually I'm here to help you. How would you like to join the Stargate Programme working for Doctor Daniel Jackson?" I looked at her in disbelief.

"I would love to work for him!" I had exclaimed. I was grinning from ear to ear. Composing myself I asked, "When do I start ma'am?"

"Right now. Come on lets get you to the base."

We talked all the way to the SGC about what I would be doing and that I was the youngest person to have top-level security clearance from the President. I couldn't contain my excitement about what I would learn from Dr Jackson. I was already fluent in Greek, Latin, Spanish, French and I was learning Italian. Now I would be able to learn Goa'uld and Ancient! I was so excited.

I was given all of my necessary passes on entering the SGC. We went down to the more secure levels where I would meet the man who would change my life…

**END FLASHBACK.**

I hadn't realised that I had fallen asleep during my musings when I was suddenly tipped off the lilo.

Gasping and spluttering for air at the same time I rounded on my attacker in anger and I spat

"What the hell do you think you are doing? You could have killed me!" after my rampage I noticed that no-one was there "What the…"

"I thought I was the only one who liked to swim." Said a voice. I spun around towards the steps and I saw Lorne standing there laughing. His trousers were wet where he had climbed in to tip the lilo.

Deciding to abate my anger I swam a couple of more lengths and ended near the deep end. I decided to get my own back.

"Would you mind helping me out? Seeing as you did wake me up."

"Yeah ok." he walked towards the deep end of the pool and held out his hand. I took it and put one foot on the side, before looking at him wickedly and tugged him in with all the strength I could muster.

He coughed and spluttered. I waited until he stopped when he asked, "What was that for?" I smiled at him before replying, "Payback's a bitch." I swam to the steps and got out. Putting my towel around me and walked towards the door. I turned and waved at Lorne, who was still in the middle of the pool, and left.


	2. Needles and swimming

Walking around the _Daedalus_ Laura realised that there wasn't that many new military personnel but there was a lot of new scientists and civilians on their way to Atlantis.

She walked towards the infirmary to get the necessary things done so that the doctor could upgrade the files as soon as he got to Atlantis. Sighing she pushed the doors open to the infirmary.

"Excuse me. I'm here for my physical and to get jabbed with needles." I said. A Scottish accent filled the room.

"Aye lass. Come on in. You must be Colonel Laura Turner. Correct?"

"Yes sir. But please call me Laura. I'm off duty until I reach Atlantis." I smiled at him. He didn't smile back.

"You were meant to be here four days ago. You're the last one to be tested." She squirmed under his gaze.

"Sorry doc. But I'm afraid of needles. One of the three things I'm afraid of actually. And no offence I don't like doctors or infirmaries." He chuckled slightly.

"Don't worry lass. It must be a colonel thing. Do you have the ATA gene naturally or does it have to be introduced?"

"Natural."

"Do you have any allergies?"

"Just chilli. Not that there will be chilli in the Pegasus Galaxy so I should be ok."

"What a strange allergy. Anything else I should know medically?"

"No sir."

"Ok then up on the bed. I'm gonna take some blood." She blanched slightly but did as she was told.

Half an hour later she walked out of the infirmary and headed towards the mess hall. She grabbed her usual ham and cheese and sat down.

"Mind if I join you?" she looked up. It was Lorne. She shook her head.

"No not at all. Listen I'm really sorry for pulling you in the pool." He waved his hand "Don't worry. I probably deserved it." He laughed. They sat and chatted for hours. They even decided to swim together whilst on the _Daedalus_.

_Wow she really is amazing _thought Lorne. _I wonder why she's coming to Atlantis. I'll have to ask her some other time._

They quickly became friends. Everyday they went swimming and everyday they would end up splashing each other and trying to dunk each other. This was usually Lorne's fault, as he would get bored just doing lengths. Nearing the end of the trip, they were in the corner of the deep end of the pool and Lorne had somehow managed to corner her without her realising it.

"Hey! How did this happen?" she laughed at him, splashing him playfully. When he didn't answer and saw the serious expression on his face, she stopped giggling. He was getting closer and closer to her. _Oh no! He isn't gonna try and kiss me is he? _She thought frantically. _Come on! Like you'd you mind _her other voice said. He leaned in but she suddenly ducked out of sight. She swam down to the shallow end and called "Lorne! Down here." He swam down to her.

"What was that?" he asked.

"What was what?" she asked innocently. He just looked at her. She rolled her eyes and pulled him into a deep kiss. They finally broke apart both needing air.

"Wow." Was all he could say. She blushed and pulled him in again. He didn't hesitate this time and lifted her up against his thighs as they kissed. Laura wrapped her legs around his waist and didn't stop kissing him until a voice in her head said _Stop! He could be military for all you know! This isn't right! You need to find out first! _Pulling her head back away from him and dropping her legs to the floor she said to him "Why are you going to Atlantis?" He looked at her puzzled, as she had just done a complete 180 on him. He hesitated before replying "I'm Colonel Sheppard's second in command. I'm a major in the USAF." Her face fell in shock, pushing him away she climbed out of the pool and ran to her quarters without looking back.

_I wonder what all that was about_ thought Lorne. _I'm sure I'll get a random explanation later._ He got out of the pool and walked to his own quarters.


	3. Daedalus stops

_Oh no! What have I done?_ I thought to myself as I paced up and down the length of my room. _Why did he have to be military? That's not fair!_ As I walked back towards the door I was hurtled towards it. Everything went black.

Lorne was nearly at his quarters when a loud bang came out of nowhere and the _Daedalus_ shuddered to a stop. He had been flung to the side when he heard a dull thud hit the door he was now leaning against. _What the hell was that?_ Once he realised everything had stopped he knocked on the door to make sure everything was ok. When he didn't get an answer after 5 minutes he knocked again and waited. Still nothing giving up he opened the door slightly and peered in. He was shocked to see Laura's head near the door. He frowned puzzled _what is she doing in military quarters? Surely she should be in civilian quarters. I'll ask her later._ Shaking his head he gently pushed the door open so that he could get in and check her vitals.

Seeing that she was ok but unconscious and bleeding from a head wound, he scooped her up and began carrying her to the infirmary.

_Jesus Christ my head! What the hell happened?_ I thought. Just then I realised I was moving. I opened my eyes and quickly shut them again when everything was swimming around me. I now felt nauseous. I tried to open my eyes again, more slowly this time, and realised Lorne was carrying me.

"Er…" I said groggily. He almost dropped me in surprise.

"You ok?" he asked but still hadn't put me down.

"Bad head but I guess I'm ok. Could you put me down please?"

"Oh right, sorry. Was just taking you to the infirmary." He said as he dropped my legs but kept a hold of my upper body.

"Probably the best place for me." I said as I stumbled slightly. He grabbed me around the waist with his free arm.

"Come on. Nearly there."

As we walked into the infirmary the doctor's eyebrows shot up. I pointedly glared at him before he could say my rank. He quickly changed tack.

"Laura? What happened?" he asked me.

"Erm I was hurtled into the door of my temp quarters when this hunk o' junk suddenly stopped." The doctor nodded his head, I realised I still didn't know his name and Lorne still hadn't let go of me. The doctor looked at Lorne and said, "Ok major. If you could help her onto the bed so I can check her over." Lorne helped me onto the bed before he added, "You can wait outside if you wish?"

"Ok doc. Will do." He leaned down and gently kissed me before adding, "I'll be back soon ok?" I just sat there and nodded, not trusting my own voice. I got look from the doctor. I was about to get a grilling. He quickly smiled at Lorne as he passed. He turned to me and began checking me over.

After 5 minutes he said "Ok. You may have a concussion, so I'm going to keep you here overnight. I'll stitch your head up as well." I blanched and shut my eyes trying to concentrate on anything but the needle and thread going through my skin. He stopped and I opened my eyes to see him staring at me. I squirmed. He broke the silence first.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on with you and _major_ (he emphasised the word) Lorne?"

"Well we've become friends."

"Looks like a bit more than friends to me lass." I flushed embarrassed.

"Well it kinda is. We kissed a couple of hours ago. But I stopped it when I realised he was military."

"Forgive me but isn't that against regulations for you people?" I scowled at him and nodded before replying, "Yes it is. That's why I don't want him knowing I'm military until I talk to him before we get to Atlantis. Is that selfish?" I asked. I could feel tears prickling my eyes I bit them back. His face softened.

"No. It isn't selfish but you should really tell him sooner rather than later. I can already tell that he's fallen for you…hard. Kinda reminds me of two other people I know." I raised an eyebrow intrigued as to who the other people were. "They are also apart because of the same reason you and Lorne cannot be together. Do you like him?"

"Ah." I said, "you're referring to General O'Neill and Colonel Carter? Yes I do."

"No I'm referring to two people on Atlantis but the General and Carter are another good example. Do you want me to send in Lorne?" I nodded. He walked to the door and said "Not long. She needs to sleep." He walked away and Lorne walked towards my bed and smiled.

"How you feeling?"

"I have midgets playing drums in my head. But other than that I'm good." I smiled at him. We talked about things but not the military issue. Lorne could see I was losing the battle against sleep, when he said "I'm gonna go. You need to sleep. I'll see you in the morning." He smiled at me and kissed my forehead before leaving. I was asleep before he left and that's when my nightmare began.


	4. Nightmares

_Laura looked to her left and then to her right, seeing nothing scary she walked on. Her team just behind her. A voice started her "Colonel?"_

"_Yes doctor Max? What is it now?"_

"_You should probably come and look at this!" sighing she wondered over to him. Looking down she exclaimed, "What the hell is that?"_

"_It appears to be a big, red, floppy shoe." She scowled at him "Yes I can see that! What's it doing here?"_

"No idea. But I think we should investigate." Shaking her head she said "No. Everyone fall back to the gate." As she turned around she realised that her team had disappeared. She spun back around to where Dr Max had been standing seconds before. He had gone as well. She was completely alone. "No…No…No…this cannot be happening."

Back in the infirmary, Dr Carson Beckett was standing over Laura's thrashing form unsure of what to do. She was clearly having a nightmare but other than forcibly trying to wake her up, which is a bad idea, there was nothing he could do. Just then he had an idea, tapping his radio he said, "Major Lorne?" he waited knowing that the man was probably asleep.

"Yes?" came the groggy reply.

"Its Dr Beckett. I need you in the infirmary."

"On my way." He was definitely awake now. Lorne ran into the infirmary two minutes later. Carson looked at him. Lorne was wearing plain black boxers with a hastily thrown on t-shirt on. He laughed at Lorne.

"What? I came as quick as I could." He said defensively. Between his laughter Beckett said, "I can see you came in a bit of a hurry. Your t-shirt is on back to front and inside out. Are your feet cold?" He looked at Lorne's bare feet laughing even more.

"Was there a reason you called me down here doc?" he snapped. Carson stopped laughing immediately.

"Yes. Follow me." They walked towards Laura's bed where she was still thrashing around.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Lorne exclaimed.

"She's having a nightmare. I was hoping you could talk to her and try and get her out of it. As you can see her heart rate is through the roof. If it doesn't come down she may have a heart attack."

"Ok. I'll see what I can do." He walked over to the bed and grabbed her hand.

"Laura can you hear me?" he asked softly.

_Laura had found a small village just past the forest that she had been walking through. She was walking towards it because she had to find her team before going back home. She could hear her name being called. She could recognise the voice but couldn't quite place it. It was too distant. Deciding it was just a voice in her head, she ignored it and carried on. She had found another red shoe, baggy trousers with stripes on and a yellow shirt. Her heart clenched and her breathing accelerated before she had even seen the thing she was unwittingly following._

She had just cleared the forest when she heard a twig snapping behind her. Turning around against her will, the thing attacked her before she could scream could escape. She looked up into a white face with cold, dead eyes and a giant red mouth. The thing bared his teeth at her as she tried to struggle away from it but couldn't. She was paralysed with fear.

"Hey doc!" Lorne called frantically. Laura had suddenly stopped thrashing about but her heart rate was still going up and her breath was coming out in ragged gasps. Beckett came running to the other side of the bed and placed an oxygen mask over her face. She was clammy to the touch as though she had been running.

"This isn't good. Something is happening to her in her nightmare and I cannot forcibly wake her up otherwise she will die. I'm at a loss as to how I can help her."

"I just wish I could see what she was seeing. Then I would be able to help her."

"Aye me too lad. Me too." They both looked down at her as body jumped slightly.

Laura couldn't take her eyes off the face as it began to rain heavily. She saw the flash of light but didn't acknowledge it until the thunder made her jump. She began to try and escape this beast before screaming, "Help me!" Again she heard the voice calling her name. Then it was asking, "Where are you?"

"_I'm over here! Please help me! Please!" she was almost begging. As the voice was coming closer she heard it say, "I'm coming. Don't give up. I'm coming! Just hold on a little bit longer." Now she recognised the voice._

"_Lorne? Is that you?" she asked quietly. Louder she said "Please get this thing off me!"_

Just then she saw an arm and a hand grip the left shoulder and another hand grip the right side of the head. She closed her eyes knowing what was coming but she couldn't block out the sound of the neck snapping. There was no pressure on her now. She sat bolt upright and said…

"Lorne?" it was more of scream that came out of her mouth. Her eyes snapped open and Lorne was sitting on the side of her bed with her arms wrapped tightly around her neck. She was shaking and she was cold. She started to cry. He began stroking her hair and saying softly "Its alright. I'm here. Shhh."

"You saved me. From the clown." Her arms tightened around his neck. She never wanted to let go. "Please don't leave me."

"I won't. I'm staying right here. Just let me move beside you so I can hold you better." He unloosened her hands from behind his neck and shuffled himself around so that his head was on her pillow. Pulling her back towards him she turned her frightened brown eyes on him and jabbed him in the chest as if to make sure he was really there. Happy that he was she gripped his shirt in her hand and placed her head on his chest. Her teeth were chattering and she was shivering; yet the infirmary was quite warm.

Beckett had come back over after she had shouted Lorne's name. He had seen him with her and changing his position on the bed so that he could hold her properly. He also saw her jabbing Lorne and once satisfied had gripped his shirt and placed her head on his chest. _Uh oh _he thought _those two are really in trouble._ Lorne's voice brought him back to reality.

"Hey doc. Why is she shivering like that?"

"It's a cold sweat. It's a result of her nightmare. I'll grab some blankets." He walked over to the cupboards, grabbed some blankets and walked back over to the bed.

"Here." He handed them to Lorne so that he could place them on her.

"I want to give her a sedative, help calm her down. Do you think she'll let me?" Lorne shrugged his shoulders in response.

"You can try."

Beckett walked over and only barely touched her arm when she jumped a mile and tried to get closer to Lorne without pushing him off the bed. Her frightened eyes fixed on Beckett.

"I'll take that as a no then."

"That's a no doc." Lorne had only just managed to stop himself from falling as he said, "Do you want me to try? Could you put the rails up in case it happens again? I don't want to fall or for her too either." Carson nodded and put the rails up as he handed Lorne the syringe.

Lorne placed his spare hand on her and gently stuck the needle into her skin and pushed the plunger down. Once it was empty he handed it back to Carson and said, "Its ok. Your safe now. I'll be right here if you need me. Shhh." He said the same thing over and over again until she fell back into a fitful sleep. He stayed awake for as long as he could but he too soon fell asleep under the watchful gaze of Dr Beckett.


	5. Laura and McKay meet

_Aww they look so cute together _thought Beckett. An idea struck him as he rushed to his desk and pulled out a camera. Quickly he took a photo of the sleeping couple. Just then a voice spoke that made him jump "Is Major Lorne aware that he is sleeping next to a colonel doctor?"

"Well colonel until she reaches Atlantis she is merely a woman and he is her friend. That is all." He smiled slightly "What was the problem? Why did we stop?" Colonel Steven Caldwell looked at him before replying, "The hyperdrive burned out. So we are going to push the sublight engines as far as we can so that Dr McKay can come and fix it."

"Any idea how long until we reach Atlantis then?"

"Probably 12 weeks. When the major wakes up ask him to report to me immediately." As he turned to go Beckett stopped him "If you are planning on telling him about Laura I wouldn't bother. She is going to tell him herself. Also seeing as she outranks you, I wouldn't mess with her plans. She could make your life very difficult." Caldwell didn't say anything as he walked out of the infirmary Beckett had hit a nerve.

A week later Dr Rodney McKay was complaining as usual. Colonel Sheppard had allowed him to fly the jumper through the Stargate closest to the _Daedalus_ on his own knowing that Lorne was on board. That wasn't what he was complaining about. He was complaining because they had totally burned out the hyperdrive.

"How the _hell_ did you manage that?" he griped at the resident Asgard. "Where are the back-up crystals?" he demanded before the Asgard had even spoken.

"They are down in storage. Should I send for someone to retrieve them?"

"No…no...I'll go. It would probably be much quicker. Knowing the space marines they would pick up the wrong ones." He muttered as he walked away.

He suddenly bumped into someone and snapped "Watch where you're going!" He met the woman's glare for glare.

"Excuse you? You walked into me! You watch where you're going." He stood there gob smacked. No one had ever stood up to him. Except maybe Cadman but she doesn't count.

"Do you have _any_ idea who you're talking too?" he demanded. She rolled her eyes and said, "Do I look like I care?" His mouth fell open in surprise. _Ah she must be new, _ he thought to himself.

"Listen missy," her eyebrows shot up in anger "I'm going to let that slide because your new. So I will explain who I am and what I do here so that you don't make the same mistake again. Ok. Here we go. I'm Doctor Rodney McKay. I am the COS on Atlantis. I know pretty much everything about everything. If the city needs saving I'm the one saving it. If something needs fixing I'm the guy who is fixing it. You understand now?" She merely glared at him before replying "Number one don't you ever call me missy again and number two I know who you are." McKay looked shocked. Just then Lorne came around the corner just to catch the next line of the argument. Laura turned to McKay and asked "Aren't you the guy who blew up three quarters of a solar system?" McKay stood there speechless. _Wow she's good. Not only can she stand up to McKay but she can also fight back_ thought Lorne. McKay started to go bright red. _Uh oh! Not good better get her out of there_. Lorne hurried over to the battling pair and said "Hey Laura. Hey Rodney. Laura you wanna go for a swim?" Too late. McKay exploded "HOW THE HELL DID YOU KNOW THAT?"

"I know a lot things about you McKay. I guess your not as clever as you think you are." She smiled smugly. McKay was about to start rambling when she held up her hand before he even started and asked "Don't you have to fix the hyperdrive? Mr Fix It?" Lorne watched in amusement. It was like watching the Titans trying to take over Mount Olympus. It was definitely going to be more exciting on Atlantis now that Laura was around. She turned and faced Lorne.

"Not in the mood for swimming but I could do with something to eat. I'm sure Mr Fix It has more than enough to worry about without standing here and arguing with me for the rest of the day." She turned and headed for the mess hall leaving a shell-shocked McKay and a chuckling Lorne in her wake.

Over the next eleven weeks Lorne and Laura got closer and closer. But never too close. As soon as it was getting too hot and heavy Laura would slam on the brakes leaving Lorne's head spinning. Yet he didn't seem to mind, she piqued his interest and he liked her for more than just her body. In the final days on board the _Daedalus_, Laura became distant, she still hadn't told him who she really was. _I have to tell him soon_ she thought to herself as she packed up her belongings and slipped on her dog tags. _But I don't want to_ she whined to herself. _Besides it hadn't come up…_she trailed off her own thought processes when Caldwell announced "New arrivals gather your belongings and be ready to beam down to Atlantis." She took a deep breath and waited.


	6. Pulling rank on Caldwell

Colonel John Sheppard was waiting impatiently in the gate room. He was usually calm and relaxed when meeting the new recruits but this time it was different. This time he was meeting the youngest female colonel in the USAF. She could single handily end any of the military personnel's' careers including his own and Caldwell's. He shuddered.

"Nervous John?" asked Elizabeth Weir, the leader of the exhibition.

"Yes just a bit." He admitted and then blushed. Seeing this Elizabeth asked, "Have you read her file?"

"Yes ma'am." He laughed slightly. Elizabeth was about to reply when the new recruits beamed into the gate room.

Looking around I was in total awe. I could see why Daniel would like to come here. I did a complete circle until my eyes rested on the tall, messy haired man and a tallish woman, who had dark hair like the man, in a red t-shirt. _That must be Dr Weir and Colonel Sheppard_ I thought to myself. Deciding I had better say hello I walked forward and smiled. The man stood ramrod straight and looked at me.

"At ease colonel. Listen I just want to let you know that I'm not here to step on your toes or contradict any order that you will give. I'm also not reporting to anyone, I'm here because I want to be here. I will follow your orders as if I was a major. I will only pull rank if I feel the need. However I doubt that will happen." I smiled at him and he visibly relaxed before replying "Thank you colonel. May I introduce Doctor Elizabeth Weir, leader of the Atlantis expedition." I shook hands with the woman in the red t-shirt.

"It's an honour to meet you ma'am."

"Likewise colonel." I smiled and said "Both of you, please call me Laura and that goes for everyone on the base." Before either could reply Caldwell's stern voice shouted, "SHEPPARD!" John rolled his eyes and said, "Now what?" under his breath. A bit louder he said, "Yes colonel? What can I do for you?"

"What are all of these changes that you've made to the rules of this base?"

"Well sir, I thought a change might be in order. It also means we get a designated day off in accordance with Doctor Heightmeyer's recommendations."

"These were not authorised by me. As you are well aware they have to be signed by you, myself and Dr Weir before these can take affect. You have broken the chain of command yet again. I will not put up with this insubordination any longer." I saw colonel Sheppard stiffen. I made a split second decision to step in.

"Excuse me Colonel Caldwell. The changes were counter approved."

"Oh really? By who?"

"Me. I read them while I was in the infirmary, agreed to them and signed my name. Do you have a problem with that?" I glared at him. Daring him to say what he was thinking. He took the dare.

"Are you the lady who has been with Major Lorne while you were staying on the _Daedalus_?"

"Yes. Colonel Laura Turner." I turned to Sheppard and said "Could I have a quick word with you in your office colonel?"

"Yes ma'am." I turned back to Caldwell and said, "And for the record I was a civilian on the _Daedalus_ so I haven't broken any regulations. Nice try though." I walked away from him and followed Sheppard to his office. I waited for him to sit before I spoke.

"Sorry about that sir. For the record I did read the changes and I do happen to agree with them. However I realise I may have overstepped the mark with Caldwell and I do apologise. It will never happen again. I will accept any punishment you give me." I stopped and waited.

Sheppard sat forward and placed his elbows on his desk thinking. He had another ally against Caldwell; it was no secret that he wanted Sheppard's job, and a pretty powerful ally at that. Finally he spoke, "Laura. I'm not going to punish you. In fact I want to say thank you for that. The man has a habit of trying to steal my job." She raised an eyebrow but said nothing; he ploughed on "Should you ever feel the need to do that again please do. Within reason of course."

"Of course. Like I said I will not pull rank unless I feel the need. Permission to speak freely sir?"

"Go ahead." It felt strange to him to have all this power over this person when she outranked him by a long way, it should be the other way around.

"I don't like him. Colonel Caldwell that is. I don't trust him. You, however, I trust. Please feel free to ask for my help with him I will gladly pull rank on him." she said. Sheppard looked up in surprise.

"Within reason." She added.

"Of course. There is one more thing I should mention…" she quickly interrupted him "If this about Major Lorne we are only friends and it will stay that way as long as I am in the military. No matter how I feel sir. Sorry for interrupting sir." He smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. What I was going to say was if you do like him, feel free to have a relationship if you wish as long as it doesn't cloud your judgement in the field. That particular regulation doesn't really apply here as no one really monitors it." He grinned wickedly before adding, "However do be discreet about it. Before you go could you sign this? It's the changes that you said you had signed already."

"Of course sir." She quickly signed her signature and left his office with a smile on her face. She headed for the gate room where old and new recruits were gathered.


	7. Sneaky

Colonel Sheppard had the job of assigning the new recruits to current SGA teams. Well those that wanted to go offworld and then were put through extensive training with Ronan and Teyla. Those people that made the cut were assigned to the teams. Laura was one of the only people who could successfully hold her own against Ronan and Teyla. With the proper training she could probably beat them. She had made fast friends with Ronan and Teyla because of this. When she wasn't training she was with Lorne, either in the mess hall or learning how to fire a weapon. Sheppard thought this was very strange, as she already knew how to fire a weapon.

One day he decided to watch her weapons training with Lorne. He could tell she wasn't listening and when asked to fire at the target she would deliberately hit the wrong one and mutter "sorry" to Lorne who would then move behind her and get her into a position where she could actually hit the right target. _She's sneaky_ thought Sheppard. Lorne walked away and allowed her to "practise" on her own with Sheppard watching her to make sure she didn't hurt herself.

Once Lorne had left, Laura flashed a cheeky grin at Sheppard and hit her target in all the correct places with her P90. Of course she already knew how to fire a gun but she liked the fact that Lorne was "teaching" her. Putting the gun back she began to walk away when Sheppard stopped her by saying "Is there any particular team you would like to join?" knowing she would want to join Lorne's team. It was a trick question.

"Whichever team you put me in sir, I will be happy." She didn't fall for it.

"Ok then. Nice weapons training by the way." He smiled at her smugly as they walked out of the armoury. Sheppard left her to go to his office and Laura headed for her quarters.

Looking at his desk John decided that he was going to assign the additional members tonight and get it over and done with. Sitting behind his desk and picking up the first folder he decided that Dr Angel would join Lt Cahill's team. He methodically went through them until he got to the bottom folder. Lt Colonel Laura Turner. An enigma, she really was a mystery. _There is only one place for her_, he thought to himself. Sighing he got up and walked to the rec room. Looking in he saw Laura Cadman, Evan Lorne and Jack Sparrow. Just the people he wanted to see.

"Major." He called. Lorne turned around "Yes sir?"

"I've assigned you a fourth member. I know you've been doing well as a trio but I think you would do better with a fourth."

"Who sir?"

"You know her very well actually Lorne. You can ever tell if you want. Laura Turner." Lorne's face lit up but it died as he said, "Are you sure sir? I mean she can barely hold a gun let alone shoot it."

"Relax major. She did very well after you left. I think she gets nervous around when you're around." He chuckled.

"Really? She isn't normally."

"I think she worries that she's gonna hurt you with the P90. But I'm sure she'll get over it. You wanna tell her? You have a mission scheduled tomorrow for 0900."

"Yes sir. I'll go now." He walked past Sheppard out of the rec room and went to Laura's quarters. He knocked on her door.

Groaning I got up and walked towards my door. I was about to shout at whoever it was for waking me up when I opened the door and saw "Lorne? What can I do for you at midnight?" all my anger had disappeared when I saw him standing there. He suddenly looked nervous.

"Are you ok?"

"Er…" he stammered. He was looking at me funny. I looked down and realised why. I had recently taken to just sleeping in my underwear as it was cooler. Blushing I turned to him and said, "Hang on a sec." I hurried over to my chair and slipped my dressing gown on calling over my shoulder "You can come in if you want." He stepped over the threshold nervously. I turned to him.

"So what's up?"

"You've been assigned to a team."

"Really? Whose?" I asked excitedly.

"Mine. We go through the gate at 0900." He smiled at the look on my face. I was so happy I pulled him into a hug.

"Ok. You can let go now." He said.

"Sorry sir." He looked at me puzzled.

"Why did you just call me sir?"

"Well you're the leader of the team right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So you're my CO. So I'm going to cal you sir when we're on duty. Is that ok?"

"Yeah. That's fine. It just sounded strange you calling me sir that's all." He laughed slightly. Shifting his feet he said, "Well I'm gonna let you go back to sleep. See you tomorrow." We walked to the door. Once outside he said, "Good night…Turner." He smiled and walked away before I could say anything. _Turner? What was that? A new nickname? Oh great!_ I thought to myself.

I quickly threw on some trousers and a jumper and headed for the armoury to pick up a flak vest and gun holster for my 9 mil. I knew I would get my P90 in the morning so I picked up everything I would need so that I could have as long as possible in bed. The flak vest was mainly so that I could hide the black patches on my Atlantis jacket. Gathering up the vest, gun holster and 9 mil I walked back to my quarters. Once inside I set my alarm for quarter to 9 and got my Atlantis uniform out ready for the morning. Placing the vest and holster with the gun already holstered onto my desk. I clambered back into bed and turned out the lights with my mind and fell into a blissful dream world where Lorne and me were together.

_What the hell is that noise?_ Beep Beep Beep I groaned and looked at my watch it was quarter to 9. Getting out of bed I quickly got dressed. Deciding it was cold I added an extra jumper on underneath my jacket. I put on the rest of my uniform, brushed my teeth and hair and left for the gateroom. Even though I hated early mornings I couldn't wait to go offworld. I was like a hyperactive child at Christmas. I smiled warmly at my new team members.

"Good morning sir." I smiled at Lorne.

"Good morning Turner. Why you so happy?" I shrugged my shoulders and didn't say anything. I was not about to tell him that it was because I was going offworld with him of all people in the galaxy. The gate whooshed into life and my grin broadened as we walked through the gate.


	8. Villagers

The planet was like every other planet in both the Milky Way and Pegasus. Except there was one big difference.

"Pink! Are you kidding me?" It was Laura. Lorne looked at her and stared at her for a full minute before asking, "What happened to your good mood Turner?"

"Well it evaporated when I set foot on this hideous coloured planet sir." She replied with scorn dripping from her voice.

"Not a fan of pink then?"

"What gave you that idea?"

"Being sarcastic won't help Turner." He was about to say more when a snicker from behind him caused him to turn around. Cadman and Sparrow had watched the whole exchange and had found it amusing.

"Something funny lieutenants?" he asked them. They immediately stopped laughing. However Laura was pulling faces behind his back, causing Cadman to try and stop herself from breaking into a grin and struggling before she replied, "No sir." He continued to look at her and her resolve broke, and she burst into fits of giggles. Lorne spun round and Laura smiled at him sweetly. Shaking his head slightly he said, "Ok. Everyone move out." As he hid a smile as he walked ahead of his team. _I wonder what the locals look like_ he mused to himself as they walked towards the village.

Laura and Cadman were chatting as they walked towards the village. "So tell me. Is he always so grumpy when he's offworld?" Laura asked.

"No. Not normally. I just don't think he liked us eavesdropping."

"It wasn't exactly a private conversation." Laura was walking behind Lorne and staring.

"So what's goin on with you and the major?" asked Cadman. Laura hadn't said anything for ages and she had noticed that Laura had habit of tilting her head to the side when Lorne was walking. Cadman laughed. This was going to be fun. They had nearly reached the village when Lorne and Sparrow suddenly stopped and Laura walked into Lorne.

"Oof. A bit of warning next time major would be nice." She scalded him. If she had been paying attention she would have seen him put his hand up indicating that they should stop. Cadman laughed again. He rolled his eyes at Laura before stating, "Everyone back to the gate. We're leaving now." Puzzled Cadman said, "Sir? We just got here. What's the problem?"

"Just come on." He said as he grabbed Laura by the shoulders and turned her around before she could see the village. Giving Cadman a significant look saying 'don't ask just go' he began to push Laura back the way they had come.

"What the hell is going on? Lorne stop pushing me I can walk you know!" Laura was struggling against him as he was pushing her. Cadman and Sparrow were now in front of her when they heard weapons fire.

"Split up! You two get back to the gate and dial it. Tell Atlantis that we're coming in hot and go through. We'll be right behind you!" ordered Lorne. Cadman and Sparrow acknowledged the order and began running towards the gate.

"Lorne what the hell is wrong?" asked Laura. When he didn't answer she stopped running. Realising that she wasn't beside him, he turned around and said, "Come on. We have to move." She was about to say something when she suddenly fell onto the ground. A tranquilliser dart had struck her. Kneeling beside her Lorne checked to see if she was ok, when he saw nothing but blackness.

Back on Atlantis Cadman and Sparrow had just come through the gate when the wormhole disengaged.

"Where is Major Lorne and Laura?" asked a frantic Dr Weir. She hated having teams coming in hot. That always meant there was trouble.

"Major Lorne ordered us to the gate and to come through. He said they would be right behind us. There was weapons fire. But we didn't even get to the village before he ordered us back. I don't understand why. I was walking with Laura a few metres behind." Provided Cadman. Weir looked at Sparrow. "Well?"

"When Lorne saw the occupants of the village he said crap and ordered us to stop. Laura walked into him and then ordered us to the gate. He seemed really agitated. I don't understand why. They should have made it to the gate." He seemed really puzzled.

"What was wrong with the occupants of the village? Major Lorne is not the kind of person to do something like that without having a good reason."

"They were clowns ma'am." Weir blanched. She understood why he had ordered the team back to the gate. She had read the report from the _Daedalus_. This was not going to be good when they got back. "And Laura is with Lorne?"

"Yes ma'am. Request permission to go and get them out."

"Denied. I will get Colonel Sheppard and his team to go along with Dr Beckett once I know what's actually going on, on that planet."

"Dr Beckett ma'am?"

"Laura is mortally frightened of clowns. That's why he ordered you back to the gate." The rest of the team looked at the expedition leader in shock. Weir was saying something to them but they weren't listening and she pointed to the direction of the infirmary for their post mission check-up. They nodded and left leaving Weir to debrief colonel Sheppard's team.


	9. Tortured

Looking around her Laura was surprised to see bars and a small window also with bars across it. _Why the hell am I in a jail?_ She thought to herself. She saw Lorne in the cell next to hers. Looking down she realised she had been de-armed and her Atlantis jacket had been taken. Noticing some small stones on the ground she picked a couple up and threw them through the bars, trying to wake Lorne up.

Something was hitting him in the head. _What the hell is that?_ He thought groggily. Then he heard someone shouting his name, "Lorne! Lorne! For gods sake wake the fuck up! Lorne!" Whoever was shouting at him they certainly weren't happy. He got up off the little bed that he had been put on and placed his feet on the floor. He looked up and saw Laura in another cell next to his. She had something in her hand; seeing that he was now actually awake she dropped it.

"Where the fuck are we?" she demanded.

"Well I'm gonna guess that we are still on the planet and in jail. As you can see." He said as he walked to the bars that separated the two cells.

"Yes I can see that. Now how did we get in here and how do we get out?" she snapped at him.

"I think we were tranquillised and I have no idea how we get out. But there's something I should probably tell you something about our kidnappers."

"What's that?"

"They're clowns." She paled so fast Lorne thought that she was going to pass out. Then she started to panic. She gripped the bars between their cells and started to shake them hoping that one would come loose.

"What are you doing?"

"I can't stay in here on my own. In fact I don't want to be here full stop!" she again tried to get the bars loose.

"Stop it! That won't work. You're gonna be fine. I won't let them hurt you I promise." He took a hold of her hands and pulled her as close as he could through the bars and hugged her awkwardly through the bars. Her whole body was shaking and there was nothing he could do about it.

After a few minutes a door opened somewhere and two guards walked in. Laura looked up and froze. The clown walked past her cell, looked in and then walked to Lorne's cell and looked in again. "This one." He pointed at Lorne and walked away. The other one opened the cell door and walked in and grabbed Lorne. Laura grabbed him as well and said, "No. Don't go. Please." The clown roughly pulled Lorne away from her and walked him out the cell. She walked to her own little bed and started to cry.

"Where the hell are you taking me?" he demanded. He was being thoroughly manhandled by the clown that had led him out of his cell. The clown didn't say anything and pushed him through a door out into the streaming daylight. Causing him to stumble as he was momentarily blinded from the sun. He regained his balance when he realised the clown was leading him towards the gate. Once reaching it the clown turned to him and said, "You are free to go."

"What? What about Laura? I am not leaving her here!" he asked shocked.

"She is to stay here. Her fear will feed us for many years." Lorne stared in horror as the clown walked away. Quickly he dialled Atlantis and went through.

Back on Atlantis Lorne had gone through the post-mission check-up and was now debriefing Sheppard's team and Beckett.

"We have to go back. I will not leave her on that planet." He said.

"We will but first we have to try and negotiate for her realise." Replied Weir as diplomatically as she could. Lorne stared at her in shock.

"Negotiate for her release? Are you kidding me? They will not let her go."

"How can you be sure?"

"Coz the one who let me go said that her fear would feed them for years. God only knows what they are gonna do to her!" he had stood up and he was shouting.

"How did she seem when you were taken?" asked Beckett.

"Frightened. She even tried to shake the bars loose separating her cell from mine just to try and get in mine. She was that afraid. I don't know how long she'll last."

"Well judging from what happened on the _Daedalus_ from a nightmare, she won't last long if they are real. We have to go and get her." Beckett said.

"Agreed. How?" asked Weir.

"A cloaked jumper might do it. But the best bet is the _Daedalus_. It can beam her out. Nice and quick." Suggested Beckett.

"There's only one problem. _Daedalus_ is halfway back from Earth. It will arrive in a week. Will she last that long?"

"No. She won't. But we have use the _Daedalus_." Lorne said.

"Why do we have to use the _Daedalus_?" asked Teyla.

"Because the clown's are monitoring the gate. That is the only way they could have known we had come through the gate in the first place." Lorne replied. A heavy silence filled the room as they realised that Laura would have to stay on that planet for a week before any of them could go and get her. Weir dismissed them all and had McKay come up with another way to try and get her back. Lorne walked to his quarters and fell on to his bed. He soon fell asleep.

_"You. Get up." Laura was huddled as far into the corner of her cell as she could go. When she didn't move the clown came in and grabbed her causing her to shriek. Pulling her by the hair she was taken out of the cell and led down a different corridor towards a circular room. He could see a figure sitting in a chair that reminded him of a throne. It slowly turned around to reveal the most sinister looking clown he had ever seen. He tensed and began to shake at the same time. _

"_Leave us." It said. The clown pushed him roughly to the floor and left, leaving them alone._

"Do you have a name?" it asked. He didn't reply, he couldn't even if he wanted too. The clown got up and walked towards him, he whimpered slightly. It stood in front of him and sucked the air. He felt a cold rising in his chest as though all the happiness in the world was being sucked out of him, increasing his sense of fear by 100 percent. Walking back to his chair he said again, "Do you have a name?" he still didn't answer. The clown stared at him. Ah you believe that your friends will come and rescue you. They will not. You are all alone. They will leave you here with me. You will tell me everything that I want to know. In time. this I promise you. The clown walked towards him again and this time ran a cold, finger under his chin and lifted it. Snapping his eyes shut so that he wouldn't have to look, the clown leaned down and put his mouth over his and sucked up.

Lorne woke up with a start. He had woken up because he had thought that he was going to have a heart attack. His dream had seemed so real, he was shivering with fear. But he was safe on Atlantis. Surrounded by people that he would call family. He couldn't remember ever being that afraid of clowns. As a child he had enjoyed the circus and he knew that his friends would never leave him behind anywhere. This he knew for certain, yet he could feel uncertainty and he couldn't explain it. These were not his feelings that he was feeling. It was Laura. What he had seen in a dream had happened to Laura.

Back on the planet Laura was confused and very frightened. The clown had sucked out all of her happiness and had increased her fear exponentially. She was now more afraid than ever. Yet there was something that she couldn't quite explain. While the clown had been interrogating her she remember a feeling or rather she had a feeling that she wasn't alone. Yet in the room there was only she and the clown in the room. When he had clamped his mouth over hers and sucked it had drained not only her hopes and dreams but also her energy. He had taken so much she had passed out. When she had awoken she had been in her cell. On her own. She had been thrown onto the floor. Getting up she climbed shakily onto the little bed and tried to sleep.

A couple of hours later, she had woke up again when she had heard her cell door open. A clown pushed in a plate of food.

"You must eat. We need your energy." It said. She walked to the food and bent down and picked it up. Not looking at the clown she walked back over to her little bed and sat down with the food on her lap.

"It has been delivered my lord." Said the servant.

"Good. It should make her mind more pliable. She will tell us everything that we want to know." The head clown laughed cruelly. "I want to see her the second she has finished eating. The quicker the better. It wears off the longer it is in her system. Go!" he added. The servant bowed his head and rushed off to the cells.

As a rule Laura didn't eat anything on other planets, it could have anything in it. She had learned this the hard way back in the Milky Way. She did not want to go through that again. Noticing a big pile of rocks in the corner she walked over to it and dug a hole with the spoon she had been provided and tipped the meal into the hole and covered it with the rocks. Walking back to her bed she placed the now empty plate and bowl onto the tray and set it onto the floor. She lay down and tried to sleep. She was soon being woken roughly from her sleep by the servant and dragged again to the circular room. She had shut her eyes on the way and refused to open them again.

"Leave us." There was a noise behind her and the sound of a door closing. "Now tell me what is your name?" it asked her. She didn't reply. She tried to fill her mind with images that would help her through this latest ordeal. Lorne popped into her mind and she desperately clung to the image as a cruel voice in her head said _who is this? Is this the man who was with you when you were brought here?_ She didn't answer. She was prepared this time. _do you honestly think this man loves you? He does not. He told me himself before I let him go. He will not come back for you. No one will. SHUT UP! SHUT UP! THEY WILL COME FOR ME. WE DON'T LEAVE OUR PEOPLE BEHIND!_ A cruel laugh filled her head.

"So you can speak. Do you honestly think they will come for you?" it asked again. He walked away and sat on his chair. She heard a noise and the door re-opened.

"Take her away." She was pulled roughly to her feet by her hair and taken back to her cell.

Lorne had been walking around Atlantis for hours. He had been kicked out of McKay's lab for pestering him. he was still shaken from the dream that he had, had before. He did not trust himself to go back to sleep. In truth he was afraid. He had come to the conclusion that he had witnessed Laura being tortured or rather their version of torture and he had not liked it one bit. But he also could not help her in the way that he wanted too. At least if he slept he would know that she was alive. Deciding this was better than not knowing anything at all he walked back to his quarters.

_He was walking down the corridors when he heard someone call his name. _

"_Lorne? Is that you?" the voice asked. He followed the sound until he saw a figure standing in the middle of a corridor. He walked up to it and placed a hand on the shoulder. It spun round._

"_Laura? What are you doing here?" he asked. She looked puzzled at him._

"_What am I doing here? What are you doing here? Hang on where are we?"_

"_Atlantis. I know your not here. So why are you here?"_

"_I don't know. So when are you coming to get me out of this hell that I am currently stuck in?" she asked him._

"_Not until the _Daedalus_ gets here."_

"_When is that?"_

"_A week."_

"_NO! I can't stay here that long. I won't last that long, you have to come and get me. I cannot take that git sucking whatever it is that he's sucking out of me anymore. He's done it to me 3 times already! I cannot take it. Every time my fear gets increased. I have to get out of here."_

"_I know. But you have to hang on just a little bit longer."_

"I can't. You know what happened the last time. By the time the space marines get here there'll be nothing left to save. And you know it." He nodded. She turned to walk away when she said, "There's something you need to know before I go."

"What is it?" he asked.

"I love you. Have done since I first saw you on Daedalus. It was nice knowing you." She walked up to him and gently kissed him on the lips and began walking towards the gate room. Not believing his ears he said, "Wait!" He hurried after her. He shouted her name and she stopped and turned to face him with tears in her eyes. He took a deep breath.

"I love you too." She looked at him in shock.

"Really?" He nodded. She had never felt so happy. Now she was determined than ever to get out. She smiled at him and disappeared.

Laura woke up with a start. Her cell had opened again. The servant came in with the plate of food. He had left the door open and she saw her chance. Grabbing a hold of the servant she snapped his neck and picked up the knife that was on the tray. Walking up to the clown she pulled him onto the bed and covered it with the blanket. Placing the tray next to the bed. If any of the other guards came to look it would look like she was asleep instead of missing. She walked out of the cell and pushed the door closed. She looked down the corridor. Lorne had been taken left, she had always been taken to the right. Going left she followed it to a big brown door. Opening it carefully, she looked left and right and then stepped out into the light. She didn't have chance to relish it, finally feeling the heat on her face, she ran towards the woods. She met very little resistance, those that she did meet she killed them with the knife that she had stolen. Reaching the gate she dialled Atlantis and spoke into a radio that she had stolen from one of the clowns guarding the gate she tuned it to the Atlantis frequency and said, "Atlantis let me in."

"Who is this?" asked Weir.

"Laura Turner." Shocked Weir turned to Chuck and said, "Lower the shield. Get a medical team down here and major Lorne." Pushing the button that allowed for communications she said to Laura, "Come on home." Laura walked through the gate as the medical team and Lorne arrived. She took two steps and collapsed.


	10. Silence and round two

Rushing over with the stretcher Beckett and one of his assistants lifted Laura onto the stretcher and rushed her to the infirmary. Once there Beckett checked her over and deciding that she was actually ok just unconscious he moved her to the main part of the infirmary. Tapping his earpiece he said into it, "Elizabeth?"

"Go ahead Carson. How's our patient?"

"Unconscious. I have no idea what psychological damage there is, if any, until she wakes up. I would recommend having Dr Heightmeyer on standby just in case."

"Ok. Is she up for visitors?"

"Well people won't get any conversation out of her. But it couldn't hurt for her to know that there are people here who care about her. You got anyone in mind?" he asked grinning, although he knew Elizabeth couldn't actually see him.

"I was actually thinking of major Lorne. He's been hanging around my office since you took her away. It's starting to annoy me to be honest. So can I send him down to you?" she asked hopefully. Hearing a noise Beckett turned around before replying, "No need. He's already here."

"Alright. Keep me updated with her condition and alert me the second she wakes up please."

"Aye will do." Carson clicked off his radio and walked over to Lorne who was just staring at the bed and not moving towards it. He placed a hand on Lorne's shoulder causing him to jump.

"Sorry major. Didn't mean to startle you. You can go and sit with her you know. I'm sure she wouldn't mind the company."

"Is she going to be ok?"

"Well physically there's nothing wrong. But psychologically…" he trailed off. Lorne looked at him and saw that the physician was worried.

"She might not be the same person." Lorne finished the sentence for him. "What can I do?" he added.

"Not a lot I'm afraid until she wakes up. But when she does she's going to need every friend around her. I hear she has made many friends since coming in on the _Daedalus_. She appears to have made quite an impression." Lorne didn't answer he just nodded. He just walked over to the bed and sat down. He was going to be there when she woke up no matter how long it took for her to do it. Beckett shuffled into his office and closed the door.

Lorne looked at her. She looked so pale compared to how she usually looked. It frightened him of how weak she looked. He took her hand in his. He remembered the dream he had the night before she came through the gate. _It had to have been a dream right? It was just a coincidence that she came through the gate the following day. At least the dream version of her knows how I feel even if this one doesn't. I'm not leaving until she wakes up. Even if Sheppard tries to order me I'll tell to shove it. She needs me more than Atlantis does._ He thought to himself as he continued to stare at her weak form. He soon fell asleep and didn't wake until he heard Beckett shuffling in the room and hitting his legs.

Sheppard had decided to check in on Laura and had discovered that Lorne was already there sitting beside her. He smiled to himself he knew how it felt to see someone that you cared about lying in a bed unconscious. He knew how frustrating it was not being able to help them in any way shape or form. He quietly walked past the sleeping Lorne and headed for the doctors office. He tapped on the glass and walked inside.

"So how is she doc?"

"No change I'm afraid. Her heart rate goes up alarmingly every now and then which suggests that she's dreaming. Which I guess is a good thing. It shows that she hasn't been psychologically damaged like I had feared. At least in an unconscious state. Who knows about her conscious state." Sheppard nodded his head in understanding and then looked over his shoulder towards Lorne before asking, "How long has he been here?"

"The last 9 hours. I know he won't leave so I'm not even gonna try and ask him too. He reminds me of a certain someone else we know." Beckett said looking at Sheppard significantly before adding, "You may want to take him out of rotation for a while. This is going to be one long battle for recovery and I get the distinct impression that he won't leave her alone." Sheppard nodded in agreement.

"If you say so doc. Keep me informed. If he gets out of hand either give me a call or if I'm offworld, drug him." Sheppard walked out of the office and walked past the bed. Taking a quick look in to make sure Lorne was actually sleeping he was surprised to see that Laura was awake. He smiled warmly at her and turned back towards the office. Sticking his head in he said, "Er doc? She's awake." Shocked Beckett followed the colonel out to the bed and shuffled past the sleeping Lorne to do some tests.

I don't know what had caused me to wake up but I was awake and vaguely alert when I had seen a tall man, with messy hair, had snuck his head round the curtain that was around my bed. He had looked at me and then disappeared. A few minutes later a different man, this one in a white coat, had come round the curtain. He walked towards me and I followed his every movement with my eyes. As he had placed a piece of fabric over my arm and pressed a button, the fabric began to inflate and my hand gone tingly. Looking at my arm I was worried. My fingers shouldn't have pins and needles. The white-coated man had accidentally knocked a pair of legs in his bustlings around me. A groan escaped from behind the man, I eyes widened in fright. There was someone else in the room that hadn't yet identified. The white-coated man moved so that I could see who it was. It was a tallish man, but not as tall as the other one, with dark hair. He had been sleeping in the chair next to the bed. The sleeping man looked at me and smiled. I didn't smile back. Who were these people? Where was I? The white-coated man stuck a needle in my arm and I didn't even flinch. A worried expression came over his face and left the area saying, "Could you both follow me?" I hadn't even noticed that the tall messy haired man was also in the room. The other men followed the man.

Seeing the worried look on Beckett's face Lorne asked, "What's wrong doc?" The doctor was visibly shaken. Taking a steadying breath before replying, "Didn't you two see that?"

"See what?" asked Sheppard. He hadn't noticed anything. Beckett turned to Lorne, "Did you see that?" Lorne shook his head no.

"What? Should we have noticed something doc?" asked Sheppard. Beckett nodded his head, "Yes. She didn't flinch when I stuck the needle in her arm." Sheppard looked confused and was about to ask a question when Lorne said, "She should have flinched. Last time she wouldn't let you anywhere near her. In fact I had to give her the sedative. This isn't normal is it doc?" Beckett shook his head.

"No. Its not normal. Especially not for her." Still seeing the confused look on Sheppard's face he added, "She doesn't like needles colonel. A bit like you actually. After the experience she's been through she shouldn't have let me anywhere near her in general, let alone with a needle." Sheppard poked his head round the curtain again and stood there looking at her for a couple of minutes before asking, "Why does she look so dazed? I mean she looks really confused. I smiled at her and she looked at me as though she had never seen me before." He looked at Beckett hoping for an explanation. Upon hearing what Sheppard had said Lorne had gone behind the curtain and he could hear him talking to her softly. But there was no response to his questions. Lorne came back out looking thoroughly dejected.

"Lorne? What's wrong?" asked Beckett worriedly.

"She's not speaking. At all. She positively flinched when I went to hold her hand. Its strange. Its like the lights are on but there's no-one home." All three men now had the same mask of worry on their faces looking at the curtain round the bed.

It had been three months since Laura had come through the gate and collapsed. There had been significant improvements in her recovery. Heightmeyer had worked closely with her. Laura now recognised everyone on the expedition but she still wasn't speaking. Dr Beckett had released her from the infirmary after a week. She could often be seen listening to her ipod wondering around Atlantis. Usually followed by Lorne. Heightmeyer had said that she was suffering from what she supposed was post-traumatic stress disorder. But she couldn't be sure. She wasn't sure because she had never seen a case this severe before. Heightmeyer also suspected that all of Laura's mental capacities were fine and that Laura knew who she was and also all the personnel on Atlantis. Heightmeyer couldn't explain why she wouldn't speak. There was nothing wrong with her vocal chords, she suspected that she would speak when she was ready and that there was nothing that anyone could do until then. Laura went about her daily business, she would spar with Teyla and Ronan until they were both tired but she wasn't exhausted at all, she would have lunch with Lorne, who had been taken out of the offworld rotation, she would also listen to Dr McKay and roll her eyes every now and then. She would also listen to Sheppard going on about what was going on offworld when he was talking to Lorne about this. This went on for another three months. People on Atlantis understood what was going on and was very patient with her. But they couldn't understand why Lorne was putting up with it. She had over the last couple of months, become more like herself and Lorne was a lot happier at this development, except she still wasn't talking. Little did they realise that when she would speak again that it would be explosive and that the fallout would be felt throughout Atlantis.

Caldwell was in a foul mood. Sheppard had not told him the condition of Colonel Laura Turner. All he had said was that she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. He had neglected to tell him that she hadn't spoke in six months. _I'll get him out of the air force because of this and then I can take the job that is rightfully mine_ he thought gleefully. All he had to do was find him. He walked around Atlantis and finally found him in the mess hall with Lorne, Laura and Cadman. He stalked up to the table and said, "Sheppard! You've gone too far this time."

"Excuse me sir?" he asked innocently "What have I done this time?" he added.

"You know exactly what you've done! Keeping her condition a secret from me and lying to my face about it!" Caldwell said pointing at Laura. "I'm going to have you kicked out of the air force for this. You mark my words!" he growled at Sheppard. Then all of a sudden another voice spoke radiating power "Stand down Colonel. You will do no such thing." The whole table looked at Laura in surprise. Something had snapped in her. Caldwell sneered at her, "So you can speak can you?"

"Apparently." She replied coldly. Caldwell saw the shocked faces and took the opportunity to dig the knife in deeper. "And what exactly are you going to do about it _Colonel_?" he spat the word at her. Everyone in the room looked up at her in surprise. She looked at him thoughtfully before replying, "Well lets see. Colonel Sheppard won't be getting chucked out of the air force. If anyone is going to be chucked out it will be you. Especially if I have my own way. You won't be sticking your nose in where it isn't wanted anymore." She tapped her earpiece and said, "Hermoid? Could you beam Caldwell out of the mess back to his ship? I believe he has outstayed his welcome." Before Caldwell could say anything a flash of white light engulfed him and he was gone. She looked at the table and saw both shock and amazement in the faces of Cadman and Sheppard. When she turned to Lorne he was looking at her with hurt in his eyes. Without saying another word she left the mess hall and walked straight to Dr Weir's office. She was a woman on a mission.

_Well that was different. But I've completely blew it with Lorne now. At least he knows the truth. What a way to suddenly start speaking_ I thought to myself. As I walked towards Weir's office I knew what I had to do if I was ever going to be happy again. I knocked on the door and walked into her spacious office. "Excuse me ma'am? I was wondering if I could have a quick word?" Elizabeth looked up in surprise.

"Certainly. Wow you're talking again. I must say that it is nice to hear you speak." She smiled warmly at me. I took a deep breath before I spoke again. "I was wondering ma'am, if I was to hypothetically retire from the USAF, would there be a place for me here on Atlantis under your command?" I asked her hopefully. She looked at me thoughtfully for a moment. "I'm sure I could use a woman of your linguistic skills under my command. Out of curiosity why would you be retiring?"

"I've been thinking about it for a while ma'am. But never had a good enough reason and now I do." I didn't answer all that truthfully but I think she knew the real reason. She added, "Well on the plus side if there was ever a problem, I won't have to have an additional civilian trained in hand to hand or weapons training." She smiled at me again, and then said, "When do you want to go back to Earth to sort out your retirement?"

"As soon as possible ma'am. But I have to ask Colonel Sheppard first, if he'll authorise me to go."

"I'm sure he will. Just let me know so that I can inform Landry and O'Neill."

"Thank you. I will." I told her and I left to go and find Sheppard.

Sheppard was proving difficult to find. Everyone had left the mess hall by the time I had left Weir's office. Not finding him in the gym or any of the labs with McKay, I decided to check the last place where he could possibly be. I turned on my heel and headed for his office. When I arrived I noticed that his door was closed _strange. It's usually open all the time._ I thought to myself. I knocked on the door and waited. He was hurriedly finishing a conversation when he said, "Come in." I opened the door and came face to face with Lorne. I stepped back and allowed to walk past me. I stared at him until he was gone from my line of sight, dipping my head I walked into Sheppard's office. "What can I do for you Laura?" I looked up and took a deep breath. "I would like to talk to you about retirement, sir." He looked at me in puzzlement.

"Retirement?"

"Yes sir. I want to go back to Earth and retire from the USAF. Dr Weir said that I could come back, if I was allowed, and be a translator on her civilian team. Sir." He looked at me thoughtfully before asking, "Does this have something to do with what happened in the mess hall? And a certain major we both know?" I looked at my feet embarrassed before I replied, "Yes sir." "Ok. You have permission to go. Just promise me you'll come back. I also want to say thank you. Again. For what you did with Caldwell." My eyes darkened at the name. "Your welcome sir. And thank you. I meant what I said. I will make sure that he doesn't bother anyone here again, much less you. Well sir I had better go and pack." He nodded and I left his office and headed to my quarters. On the way I tapped my earpiece and said, "Dr Weir?"

"Yes?"

"Colonel Sheppard is allowing me to return to sort it out. Could you possibly make the call to Landry and O'Neill for me please?"

"Yes certainly. I will let you know what they say."

"Thank you." I clicked off my radio and walked into my room.

Lorne was in a bad mood. He had been since the incident in the mess hall. He had gone and talked to Sheppard about it and his commander had managed to calm him down, until he had seen her at the door. She had really hurt him, although he would never admit to anyone but himself. He couldn't understand why she had never said anything. _Would you have become friends the way you did if she had?_ He asked himself. He shook his head trying to clear his thoughts. Deciding that he had better go and ask her what was going was probably the best idea. Seeing that he was already at her door. He took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in." came the answer from inside. He palmed the door and looked inside the room. Laura was rummaging through all of her drawers and pulling out random articles of clothing out of them. She still hadn't turned around to see who it was. She walked over to her wardrobe and pulled out her dress uniform and hung it on the back of the door and was still pulling clothes out of it and draping them over her arm. She walked over to her bed and looked up as she went to put her clothes on top of a suitcase. Shocked she dropped most of them on the floor.

"Lorne? What can I do for you?" she asked politely. He just looked from her to the suitcase and back at her before he replied. "You going somewhere?" he demanded.

"Yes actually. I'm going to Earth for a little while. I…uh…need to clear my head." She blushed slightly. His anger that had been bubbling under the surface suddenly came out in one explosive outburst. "So your running away? I'm not surprised after that little stunt you pulled in the mess hall. Going to deal with the fallout are you? Or are you running away from me? Too ashamed to face me and tell me why you lied to me?" he screamed at her. Shocked Laura didn't say anything she just let him pace up and down allowing him to calm down before she spoke. When she did she was so quiet Lorne had to strain his ears just to hear her.

"I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt anyone, much less you. And no I'm not running away. I need to take care of a couple of things. But I should be back on the next _Daedalus_ run." He laughed at her scornfully. He turned his back on her and walked out the door before stating, "I wouldn't bother. No-one wants you here anymore." He stormed out into the corridor and went to his quarters to change into his gym clothes. He needed to hit something.

Laura stood in total shock at Lorne's outburst. Dropping her head she knew he was right. She was running away but not for the reasons that he thought. She was going to stop running when she came back she had been running since she had first met him on the _Daedalus_ all those months ago. Now she was going to fix it even it cost her, her career. He was worth it in her mind. Numbly she picked up her clothes off the floor and put them in the suitcase that was on her bed. She had almost finished her packing when a voice came over her earpiece.

"Laura?"

"Yes?"

"It's Weir. You can go through to Earth as soon as your packed. Are you nearly done?"

"Yes. I should be down in 5 minutes."

"Ok. I will let Earth know. See you in a little while." Her earpiece clicked off. Laura walked over to her dress uniform and unhooked it from the back of the wardrobe door. Putting it carefully in her suitcase so that it would crease, she closed the lid and walked out of her door. She walked towards the gateroom and nodded at Dr Weir. She had a brief conversation before turning to Laura and saying, "Your free to go through." She smiled at the younger woman. "Thank you. See you on the other side." Laura laughed. She took a deep breath and walked through the gate.

A/N: Sorry for the patchiness of this chapter. But it had to be done. I needed to get Laura to Earth at some point. Thanks for the reviews! Keep em coming please.


	11. Retiring is so hard to do

As she stepped through the gate at the SGC, she was pleasantly surprised to Dr Daniel Jackson waiting for her. She smiled warmly at him and said, "Daniel! Its been too long." He smiled at her and said, "Yes it has. This is Vala. She's new." He added as he pointed at the woman standing next to him. Laura shook hands with her and realised that Vala held her hand far harder than what was normal. Letting go of her hand Laura turned back to Daniel. "So tell what's been going on? I wanna hear all the details." She laughed at the look on his face.

"Alright. But lets put your stuff away first." He chuckled.

"Lead the way." Laura followed Daniel and Vala out of the gate room and down a corridor to where the VIP quarters were. She threw her suitcase in and turned to Daniel and said, "Right I'm settled. Lets go." She smiled at him as he shook his head, "Some things never change." Laura followed Daniel and Vala to his office and they all sat down. Of course Laura already knew where she was going but she got the distinct impression that Vala was very protective over Daniel.

I turned to Daniel and said, "Well come on! What have I missed? There must be something!" I laughed at him. He looked at Vala and rolled his eyes before he said, "Well Vala here is an interesting story." I arched my eyebrows at him.

"Really? Do tell."

"OK. Well do you remember when I was supposed to go to Atlantis with Hammond?" he asked. I nodded my head. I could remember how angry he had been that he hadn't got to Atlantis…again. I rolled my hand for him to continue.

"Well it was Vala here that had beaten me up and tied me to the chair. She was stealing weapons grade naquadah." He rolled his eyes and Vala made a noise in the back of her throat before he continued, "Well a few months ago. She came through the gate claiming she had information on cache of ancient weapons. Needless to say she lied…again. Now she can't leave, because if she does we both collapse because of these." He raised his arm to reveal a gold bracelet type thing. "It was because of this that I missed the _Daedalus_ again. I swear I will get to Atlantis eventually." He shot Vala a look of contempt. Just then a tall man came into Daniel's office. "Jackson? Who is this?" he asked pointing to me.

"Oh yeah I forgot you two hadn't met. Cameron Mitchell, this is Laura Turner. Laura Turner meet Cameron Mitchell the new leader of SG-1."

"Nice to meet you." I said and shook his hand. He held my gaze for longer than I was comfortable with. I looked at Daniel pleading for help. Seeing my look Daniel said, "I should probably mention she's Colonel Laura Turner." Mitchell dropped my hand quicker than he would drop a live grenade. I smiled at him before saying to Daniel, "So what's going on in the galaxy? Who have you pissed off now?"

"What makes you think I've pissed anyone off?" I just looked at him. "Ok. There's a new big bad in town. The Ori. They are basically the evil twins of the ancients."

"Wow. You really know how to make friends don't you?" I laughed at him. Daniel was about to reply when Cameron interrupted. "So how do you know Jackson?"

"Well that's an interesting story wouldn't you say? Who should tell it me or you Daniel?"

"You can."

"Ok. Well Daniel here apparently handpicked me to be his research assistant. You know do all of the stuff that he couldn't be bothered or had the time to do. I remember meeting him for the first time…"

**Flashback:**

As I walked into a very cluttered office, I noticed a tall man with light brown hair, he was busily muttering to himself in a language that I couldn't quite understand. He had pushed his glasses up onto his head and he appeared to squinting at whatever he was trying to read. I cleared my throat before asking, "Dr Jackson?" His head snapped up and asked, "Who are you?"

"_Lieutenant Laura Turner sir. From the academy?"_

"_Ah yes. Your going to be my research assistant." He said as he searched for his glasses. I walked up to him and pulled the glasses off the top of his head and handed them to him. He smiled and said, "Ah thank you. That would explain why the writing was blurry." I nodded at him and smiled._

**End flashback:**

"He soon realised I was a quick study and that I picked languages really quick. It was him who actually took me offworld for the first time. I've been hooked ever since. We also became friends. I left for a year to get my science degree. In chemistry, could never get my head around physics no matter how often I listen to Carter or McKay for that matter. I came back for another couple of years and then I was offered the Atlantis position under Colonel Sheppard and I took it. Needless to say Daniel here has never forgiven me for it." I laughed.

"Why did you leave for a year?" asked Cameron. I scowled slightly before replying, "I left because I didn't trust Jonas. The spineless git."

"Calm down Laura. I'm back now." Daniel spoke quietly and he turned to Cameron and said in explanation, "It was Jonas's planet where I was exposed to the radiation, which ultimately led me to ascend." Cameron nodded in understanding. We all chatted for a little bit longer before I said, "If you'll excuse me. I'm gonna get some sleep. I've got a long day ahead of me. It was nice meeting you Cameron. And you Vala. Good night." I headed out of the office and walked to my quarters. I was soon asleep and dreaming of Lorne…again.

She woke up early the following morning. Hurrying to get the ball rolling she quickly showered and dressed and walked up to General Landry's office door and knocked.

"Come in." Laura took a deep breath and entered the room, "Ah you must be Colonel Laura Turner correct?"

"Yes sir."

"I believe you want to talk to me about something?"

"Yes sir. I would like to talk to you about retiring."

"Why do you want to retire? Surely you're too young for such an option. Where and what would you do?" he asked her.

"Well sir. Dr Weir has said that I could join her translation team back on Atlantis."

"Do you mind me asking why you want to retire?" Laura cleared her throat before replying, "Well sir I've been thinking this for a while now. I never wanted to be purely military anyway. I always wanted to stick with my language skills and I believe I can help the Atlantis expedition more with the language skills that I learned from Dr Jackson." Landry looked at her as though he didn't quite believe her. She didn't offer any further explanation and he turned to her and said, "Well you certainly have my permission to go back to Atlantis after you have retired. However you will have to run this past General O'Neill. If he signs off on it you can go back to Atlantis on the next _Daedalus_ run." Laura smiled at him and said, "Thank you sir." She saluted the General and walked out of his office. Now she had to face O'Neill. He was not going to swallow the same reasons that she offered Landry. She would have to tell him the truth. But first of all she would have to travel to Washington to have her meeting with him. Thankfully General Landry had already booked her flight and within two hours she was landing in Washington. She was escorted to a near-by hotel where General O'Neill was waiting for her.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

I smiled warmly at General Jack O'Neill. He was just as good looking, as he was when I first met him. He had was always kind to me when I went offworld with him and the rest of SG-1 when he still ran the unit. He was one of the few who understood why I had left when Daniel had ascended. He was also the only that would ring me occasionally and tell me how much he missed me and that he would have taken me on the team over Jonas any day. I was also the one he told when he had seen Daniel while he was being tortured by Ba'al knowing that I wouldn't laugh at him and not book him into the nut house. He smiled at me and said, "Hello Laura. How you doing?"

"I'm good sir thank you. How are you?"

"Truthfully confused about why you want to retire. Now I got the version that you told Landry. But I don't honestly believe it. He does but that's because he doesn't know you as well as I do. So what gives? Why do you wanna retire really?"

"Well sir. I met someone while I was on Atlantis and I wanna be with him. But I can't because he's in the military. Please don't tell anyone." I begged him. He held up his hands and said, "Don't worry I won't tell anyone. Can I at least try and guess who this person could be?" I laughed at him and said, "You can try. But I doubt you'll guess right."

"Ooooh I like a challenge. Sheppard?" I looked at him and said, "No sir. It's not Sheppard. Besides I get the distinct impression he likes someone else, don't worry sir she ain't military. Although he does have a certain charm that everyone seems to respond to." I laughed. He looked thoughtful for a second. "Ford? Bates? Oh wait it can't be Ford, he's MIA. Erm…" he trailed realising he didn't actually know any other names on the military list for Atlantis. I laughed before replying, "No neither of them sir. Major Lorne ring any bells?" I asked him. He shook his head. Then he said, "I will only allow you to retire on the condition that you take Major General for a couple of weeks. I need some extra pulling power on something that I want to go through. You can also promote or demote anyone you want." He added wickedly. I flashed him a sly smile before asking, "Only for two weeks? What do you want passing?"

"Well, the IOA wants Dr Weir replacing on Atlantis, of course I think she should say. So I'm trying to get the IOA under my jurisdiction permentally so that I can have the final say on what goes on over there." I nodded my head before replying, "Ok. I'll do it. On the condition that I can retire offworld."

"Ok. Where do you wanna retire too?" he asked. Although he was sure he already knew the answer.

"Atlantis." I answered.

"OK. I will put the papers through once you've been promoted."

A few weeks later I had been promoted to Major General and I was already bored stiff when O'Neill walked into the little office that I had been assigned to.

"What ya doin?"

"Oh nothing sir. Just sitting here bored out of my brains. You?"

"Well I was wondering who you would like to promote and demote. That's always fun." He chuckled.

"Actually sir I was thinking about that earlier. I think Lt Colonel Sheppard, needs to be promoted to full Colonel status. I would also like to promote Major Lorne to Lt Colonel status." O'Neill gave me a look, "He deserves it sir. They both do. They've saved Atlantis and each other god knows how many times. I also want Colonel Caldwell out of the military." He looked at me shocked.

"What did he do to you?"

"Sir he has a major grudge against Sheppard for no reason. He is constantly berating him and he threatened to get Sheppard kicked out of the military." Noticing the look I added, "Sheppard didn't actually do anything wrong…this time. Then he threatened me. So I told him I was gonna get him kicked out of the air force. Was I lying?"

"No. Not many people like the man. I'll see to it personally."

"Thank you sir." He nodded and left my little office.

A few days later I was signing the promotions and the dishonourable discharge sheet of Colonel Caldwell. I smiled slightly; being a general really did have its upsides. But I was getting more and more anxious about returning back to Atlantis. I was then informed that I had missed the _Daedalus _so I would be returning back to Atlantis via the SGC. I also learned that the new commander of the _Daedalus_ was Colonel Scamp. He was apparently a good man, not that this had much to do with me. I no longer cared, I had been granted my early retirement. I was to go back to Atlantis in a week.

I had been packing up all of my stuff into boxes for two days. All of my stuff was to go into storage other than the things that I wanted to take to Atlantis with me. Although most of the stuff I wanted was already there. Except for my Harry Potter books which I would be taking with me this time. I stood up and stretched. It was now all ready to go into storage that the SGC had organised for me knowing that I wouldn't be coming back to Earth unless it was absolutely necessary. Deciding to go for a walk I grabbed my coat and keys and went to the shops. I had been idly wandering around when I came upon a sweet shop that I had never seen before. Walking in for a quick look, I noticed along the back wall a shelf full of jellybeans in big jars. I walked over and bought three of the big jars. Walking out of the shop with my purchases I smiled to myself as I remembered what Lorne had said about the sweets.

**Flashback:**

I laughed at the man sitting opposite me. He was going on about all of the things that had happened since on Atlantis since he had arrived. He was recounting the incident where Laura Cadman had ended up in McKay's head and how she had hijacked him during his dinner with Katie Brown. He had been in the corridor when they'd had an argument about it and then she had slapped him. He was doing a very good impression of McKay, which had me in stitches. Once we had stopped laughing I asked him, "So what would you bring with you too Atlantis if you could have anything?" He had thoughtfully about this for a second before replying, "Red jellybeans." I looked at him in shock. "Are you serious? Of all the things in the world you'd want red jellybeans?" I asked him and pulled a face.

"_Yes I'm serious. They are my favourite sweet in all the world. What don't you like em?" _

"Hell no. They are god awful." I laughed at the incredulous look on his face. When he asked, "What would you have then?" I thought for a moment and said, "An unlimited supply of Irn-Bru. Hands down." He looked totally confused. "It a drink from Scotland. Its lovely. Unfortunately you can't get it in the States or the Pegasus Galaxy. So I'm gonna have to do without." I added and laughed.

**End flashback:**

I arrived back home and jumped onto my bed. I tipped the coloured sweets out of the jars onto the bed and grabbed a handful and began to slowly separate the red ones from the rest. Tipping the red ones into one of the jars and the rest into the other jars. The red jar was almost full but not quite, deciding that one more jar should do it, I went back into town and bought another jar and added its contents into the others. All four jars were now full with lots left over. Since I didn't like the sweet I threw the rest away. Thinking _he had better appreciate this_ I put the four jars into a duffle bag and packed it with clothes so that the rattling couldn't be heard. Sighing I stood up and put my suitcase and duffle bag next to the door. Tomorrow I would be going back home.

It had been a long drive back to the SGC and I was bored senseless. I'd had an interesting few weeks back on Earth. First I'd been promoted to major general, then I'd promoted Sheppard and Lorne, helped O'Neill with his IOA problem, then I'd retired. Then I had meticulously sorted through jellybeans for what felt like days when it was actually only hours. Not to mention the fact that she had packed up all of her belongings and put them in storage. Now she was on her way back to the SGC so that she could go home and back to Lorne. I knew I would have some bridges to mend with Lorne and Cadman. But I would do it no matter how long it took. When I arrived at the SGC, Daniel and Vala were there to greet me again. I smiled warmly at them both.

"You looking forward to going back?" asked Daniel.

"Hell yes. Will you and Vala be coming soon?" I asked him.

"I hope so. I'll let you know." He smiled. I sighed and said, "Well I'd better go. Weir hates people being late." I laughed and shook my head. I turned to Daniel and hugged him, I turned to Vala and pulled her into a hug as well while whispering, "If anything happens to him, I will personally hold you responsible. Look after him." I pulled away and she nodded her head. "Ok then. I'd better go. See you soon hopefully." The gate whooshed into life and walked up the ramp. Stopped and waved before I went through. I arrived on Atlantis to see Dr Weir and Sheppard waiting for me. I smiled I was finally home.

A/N: sorry about the randomness but I had to do it this way. Now the real fun will begin lol.


	12. Welcome back

Laura had barely been back a day when her earpiece chirped, "Laura? It's Dr Weir. Could you come to my office please?"

"Certainly. On my way." Laura replied. Grabbing her new Atlantis jacket (this one had red patches instead of black) she walked to Elizabeth's office. She knocked on the glass and said, "What can I help you with?" when she stopped. She hadn't noticed Lorne already sitting on the couch in her office. It was half in shadow, which is why she hadn't seen him when she had first knocked.

"Have a seat Laura." Laura took the seat opposite Elizabeth. She waited for Elizabeth to speak.

"Laura, colonel Lorne's team has found some ancient ruins on a planet and he has requested a translator. I've picked you. You are to go to the planet and take some photos and do some on site translations. Come back here and finish it off on the base. Any questions?"

"Why did I have to finish the translation here?" Lorne groaned from his place on the couch. Elizabeth shot him a threatening look before replying, "Because the locals are not that friendly. So that means only you and Lorne will be going and you will be going at night. Take plenty of flashlights and batteries. Dismissed." Lorne went to leave and Laura followed him calling, "So how did you manage to piss the locals off?" Lorne completely ignored her when a voice behind her made her jump.

"You know you shouldn't antagonise him like that." Elizabeth said smiling. "I'm sorry Elizabeth. It's just my way of trying to get him to talk to me. Not the best way to go about it huh?" Laura asked her. Elizabeth shook her head before she said, "No. Not the best way. Have you seen anyone since you been back? You should probably go and see Cadman, she's slightly pissed at you for leaving without saying goodbye."

"Yeah I know. She is one of the many bridges that I have to fix. Do you know where she is?"

"Try the mess hall." That said Elizabeth walked back into her office.

Laura walked towards the mess hall to try and find her best friend on Atlantis Laura Cadman. They had developed a strange friendship in the time that Laura had been there. This was probably going to be the easiest bridge to fix. Lorne would prove to be more of a challenge no doubt. Looking in she noticed Cadman sitting by herself. Laura walked over and said, "Mind if I sit?" Cadman stood up ramrod straight and saluted her. Laura looked at her strangely. "What are you doing?" she asked Cadman. Cadman in turn looked at her funny before replying, "You are a superior officer. I'm showing my respect ma'am."

"Alright. Stop that. I'm retired so lose the salute and the ramrod straightness. I never made you do it when I was a superior officer so please don't start doing it now." Cadman relaxed and sat back down. Cadman looked like she was about to say something when Laura jumped in first.

"Listen before you say anything. I just wanna say I'm sorry for leaving the way I did. But it was a last second decision. I thought I was going to be leaving a couple of days after my request not the same day or I would have said bye in person instead of just leaving like that. I'm really sorry. Will you forgive me? Oh and I'm not above begging, ya know if you want me too." Laura looked at Cadman hopefully. Cadman looked at her for a full five minutes before she replied, "You're forgiven. I'm pleased your back. When did you retire?" Laura visibly relaxed before replying, "When I went to Earth. I'm pleased someone's pleased to see me. Some people really ain't pleased." Cadman looked at her. "Would that be a certain Lt Colonel we both know?"

"Yeah, that would be the one. He really does hate me doesn't he?" Laura asked sadly. Cadman shook her head, "No he doesn't. You might not believe this but he really has missed you. He hasn't been the same since you left. When the _Daedalus _came back he was looking for you. When you didn't get off it he was in a bad mood for a week. Everytime the gate activated he would go running to the gate to see if you were coming back that way. Everytime he was horribly disappointed and he took it out on us. Deep down he's pleased your back trust me." Laura looked at her slightly dumbfounded before saying, "Well that's not true. He wasn't there when I came through yesterday."

"That's because we were offworld." Cadman offered. Laura looked at her and decided to change the subject, "So tell me. What have I missed? Any interesting gossip?" Cadman laughed before replying, "Actually you did. Lets see. Sheppard and Teyla are so nearly a couple its ridiculous they should get a room already. It's actually really funny. Anyways moving on, Ronan it seems is in love with one of the new scientists, but no one is sure which one. It could just be a rumour. I'm also pretty sure McKay has a thing for Weir, but I have no evidence to back it up yet. It's just my observations at the moment." Laura sat there in total shock, "Wow. Interesting. I think I may have to keep an eye out to see if I notice anything. So what do you think I should do about Lorne?" Cadman laughed at her. "What?"

"Oh nothing. Its just…" she trailed off and her eyes went wide in shock. Laura looked at her in confusion before turning around. Lorne had just walked in with Kate Heightmeyer. He was all over her. She turned back to Cadman, opened her mouth to say something, couldn't say anything and then got up and left. Running to her quarters in tears.

Lorne walked over to Cadman and sat down. Heightmeyer had gone to join the line for something to eat. Cadman rounded on Lorne, "What the hell are you playing at? You did that deliberately. Besides I thought you and Kate were over?" she scowled at him. He held up his hands in surrender. "I don't know why I did it. I guess I just wanted to make her jealous. And now I have to go that damn planet with her tonight. If things weren't goin to be awkward enough as it is, now it's going to be worse." He groaned out loud.

Laura walked out of her quarters and headed towards the gateroom. She had radioed Elizabeth and asked her when she was leaving for the mission and that she and Lorne were to go through the gate and 1900 hours. Grabbing her gun holster and fastening it to her leg, putting on her jacket and finding plenty of flashlights and batteries. She also grabbed a small bag in which to put in a couple of books just in case she needed them, putting her 9 mil in the holster she headed for the gateroom. Lorne was already there. She didn't look at him when Elizabeth said, "Take a jumper instead. Just in case. Cloak the second you get on the other side." Lorne nodded at her and headed for the jumper bay. Laura followed silently behind him. She was not going to talk to him. No matter what he said. Arriving at the jumper bay she followed him to the second jumper from the left. Walking inside he said, "Hey Goku. You ready to go?" Laura raised an eyebrow and didn't say anything. _Why the hell is calling Goku or whatever it is? _She thought to herself. Just then a rather disjointed voice said, "WHERE ARE WE GOING TODAY COLONEL?" Lorne answered the voice, "To P19-85S."

"VERY WELL. WHO IS THIS YOUNG LADY? I DO NOT RECOGNISE HER ENERGY SIGNITURE." Enquired the voice. Lorne looked at her briefly before saying, "Just ignore her. She's just the translator." Laura scowled at him and didn't say anything. _This is going to be a long night_ she thought to herself wishing that she could be anywhere but in the back of the jumper. Lorne piloted the jumper into the gateroom and joined the planet and went through the gate.


	13. Sleepy mumblings

Once Lorne had landed the jumper he lowered the back door. He had landed right next to the ruins. Seeing this Laura got out and walked towards them. Lorne had told her that he was going to stay in the jumper and that he would have a clear line of sight with her at all times in case someone came along. She had just nodded and not replied. Walking over to the ruins she kneeled on the soft ground and began working silently. She had remembered so she turned it on and continued to work.

Back in the jumper, Lorne was watching Laura like a hawk, when Goku startled him.

"DO YOU LIKE THIS PERSON?"

"What? No. What makes you think that?"

"JUST THE WAY YOU SEEM TO LOOK AT HER. I HAVE NEVER SEEN YOU LOOK AT ANOTHER HUMAN IN THE SAME WAY. ALSO I CAN READ YOUR MIND."

"Since when? Has Zelenka been updating your systems again? I really wish he would warn me." Lorne scowled and made a mental note to yell at the scientist about not telling him about the upgrade.

"YES. HE DID UPGRADE MY SYSTEMS. IF IT IS OF ANY HELP SHE LIKES YOU ALSO. IN FACT SHE SEEMS VERY ANGRY WITH YOU. SOMETHING ABOUT KATE SOMEONE?" enquired the jumper. Lorne groaned.

"Yeah well she has every reason to be angry." Lorne didn't elaborate after that. Both Lorne and the jumper fell silent. After an hour, his jumper said, "COLONEL. THERE IS SOMEONE COMING. PERHAPS YOU SHOULD CALL FOR YOUR LADY FRIEND TO COME BACK." Sighing Lorne got up and clicked his radio, "Laura come in. You need to get back to the jumper there's someone coming." He got no reply but he could see her walking back towards the jumper. Once she was back inside Lorne closed the door and walked back into the front of the jumper. "Anytime you want to leave Goku is fine with me." He told the jumper. "WE CANNOT LEAVE. THEY APPEAR TO BE SETTING UP A CAMP. WE WOULD MAKE TO MUCH NOISE."

"Great! So are we here for the rest of the night?" asked Lorne. "IT WOULD APPEAR TO BE THAT WAY. ARE YOU GOING TO TELL YOUR FRIEND? OR WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO?" asked his jumper. Lorne shook his head and said, "No. I'll do it. She is not going to be happy about this." He walked into the back of the jumper. The second he went in the bulkhead door slammed shut. Puzzled Lorne said, "Goku? Why did you close the door?"

"THERE APPEARS TO BE A MALFUNCTION. I CANNOT OPEN THE DOOR. I AM VERY SORRY."

"Ok. This isn't funny. You were fine a couple of seconds ago. Don't play games with me." He shouted at his jumper. Goku ignored him. Groaning Lorne turned to Laura and said, "Looks like we are gonna be here for a while. We can head back to Atlantis first thing in the morning. There are blankets under the seat so it's probably best to get some sleep." Not expecting an answer sat on the other side of the jumper when she said, "Fine." Shocked at her speaking he said, "Why are you pissed at me for? If anyone should be angry it's me!" he demanded. She merely rolled her eyes and pulled out a blanket for her head and one for her body and stretched out to try and get some sleep. Turning her back on him she tried to get comfy. He didn't give up trying to talk to her. "Hey! I asked you a question!" Laura rolled her eyes again. _If he keeps this up I will swing for him_ she thought angrily to herself. He tried again this time ripping the blanket off her body. Sitting up angrily she met his stare. Before stating, "Give it back." Through gritted teeth, she made a grab for the blanket. Not expecting it Lorne toppled onto her as she had pulled the blanket. Pushing him off her she pulled the blanket around herself so that he couldn't do it again without seriously injuring her.

As I lay there in the stony silence in the back of the jumper, I tried to get some sleep but a voice kept saying _Talk to him. Sort out this mess that you appear to be in_. I knew this was not my voice. But I couldn't work out whose it was. I was really starting to get annoyed so I rounded on Lorne, "Could you please shut up!" I shouted at him. He looked up surprised, "What? I haven't said a thing." He shouted back. I was now on my feet baring my teeth at him, "You wanna talk? Fine! We'll talk. But I guarantee you're not gonna like what I have to say."

"Oh really? What would you like say to me? That your sorry for lying to me for god knows how long? Or maybe that you love me?" he laughed scornfully, he had also jumped to his feet.

"You would like that wouldn't you? Do you honestly think that I would love someone like you? I really don't think so. And as for the lying it seems it was well justified. I mean look at the way you handled the situation. You went in a fucking huff without letting me even try and explain the reason why I kept it a secret. Oh and do you really think I want to be stuck in the back of a goddamn jumper with you of all people? I can't believe I retired. At least if I was still in the air force I could order you to shut the hell up!" I was rambling and I knew it. I was saying anything to try and hurt him. Hoping to hurt him as much as he had hurt me. I knew there was no way I could turn back the clock and change what had happened before I left for Earth. If I could I would go back to the day that we had met on the _Daedalus_ and tell him the truth. But what's done is done and now I can't change that. Lorne looked at her in surprise.

"Wait a second. You retired? Why? And I know you don't mean a word of what you just said."

"Stop trying to take the fucking high road. Yes I retired and before you go and think that I did it for you. You'd be sadly mistaken. You really don't know me very well if you think I didn't mean what I said. Remember when I told Caldwell that I would get kicked out of the air force?" Lorne nodded his head. "Why do you think there is new commander of the _Daedalus_?" I said. If it was possible he looked even more confused, "You didn't." I nodded my head, "I never say anything I don't mean." I spat at him.

"You really are a bitch."

"What your only realising this now?" I said mockingly, "You really are stupid." I turned away from him and lay back on the seat facing the wall of the jumper. We had been standing nose to nose, neither one wanting to back down. I had moved because if I hadn't I would have either smacked him or kissed him, and I couldn't have that. _Yet._ Added a little voice. Ignoring it I went to sleep.

Lorne listened to her breathing. In and out, in and out. She looked so peaceful. He knew she hadn't meant what she said. All of a sudden her body went rigid and she scowled slightly. Then she mumbled something that he didn't quite catch. "What did you say?" he asked her.

"I wasn't talking to you." Laura replied. Lorne looked up and walked to the other side of the jumper. She was definitely asleep. _Hm. Maybe she talks in her sleep_ he thought to himself _maybe I can find out what she really thinks._ Deciding to test his theory, he asked, "Who were you talking to then?"

"Kate."

"What did you say to her?"

"I told her to stay away from you." Confused Lorne said, "Why?"

"Because I love you." Shocked at this revelation he decided to change tack, asking, "Why did you retire?"

"To be with you."

"What?" he exclaimed. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I wanted to."

"How did you know I even liked you?"

"I don't. I took a chance." She scowled slightly and rolled over. She rolled to far and fell off the seat before Lorne could catch her. She woke up with a start. "What the hell?" she said groggily. Lorne offered his hand to help her up. She looked at him wearily. He had a strange expression on his face, deciding it was better not knowing what he was doing so close to her she took his hand and stood up. When he didn't let go of her hand she tried to pull it back but he pulled her closer to him instead. He tilted his head to the side and with his free hand pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. She tried to step back but couldn't. He had dropped her hand and had put his hand on her waist so that she couldn't move away from him.

"Did you really retire for me?" he asked her.

"Wha…what did you say?" she demanded.

"You heard me. So for once tell the truth." He could feel her stiffening her back as she tried to regain some composure.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Your never gonna find out. Besides why would you care? Aren't you with the shrink?"

"Well that depends." She raised an eyebrow, "On whether you retired for me or not." Taking a deep breath she said, "No. I didn't retire for you. So does that mean you're with the shrink?"

"Yes. That means I'm with the…Kate." He dropped his hand from her waist. She grabbed his hand and said, "Listen. I'm really sorry for lying to you. Can we at least try and be friends?" she asked him softly. "Please forgive me." Lorne looked at her and said, "Yeah. We can be friends. I forgave you a long time ago. I understand the reasons why you lied." _Even if I don't understand why you just lied about retiring_ he added to himself. "Get some sleep." He added out loud. Nodding she headed for her seat and went back to sleep. _He blatantly didn't believe that_ was the last thought she had that night.


	14. Flying lessons

Lorne managed to get himself and Laura back to Atlantis without too much trouble the following morning. On the way back, they had talked like they used too before all of the things that had kept them apart had suddenly come to light. There was, however, some added sexual tension that neither of them had expected. Once they were back on Atlantis Laura walked to her little lab to finish the translations that she had started the night before when her mind started to wonder. _Why had he asked me about the reason for my retirement? He couldn't possibly know the real reason. The only people that do know are O'Neill and Cadman, and I highly doubt they would say anything. So how the hell had he found out? This is going to be so difficult just being friends with him. Not to mention seeing him with Heightmeyer. I feel like I'm stuck in some horrible romcom movie or a bad classic novel. Ugh! I hated those things and now my life appears to be one. Great, just great. Now what am I supposed to do? Ignore it and hope that it goes away? That's never worked before though so I doubt it will now. Goddamn it!_

Laura had been daydreaming for the past twenty minutes when Cadman had walked in. Noticing that her friend was paying to attention to the other translator in the room Cadman walked up to her and gently grabbed her shoulder and shook her. "Hey Laura! Atlantis calling Laura. You in there?" Cadman turned to the translator and said, "The lights are on but there's no one home. Sorry." Muttering under her breath the woman walked away from Laura and Cadman. Rolling her eyes Cadman, clapped her hands in front of Laura's face. Finally getting through to her friend, Cadman was pleased to see that Laura had jumped a mile, "Ah so you are awake? What were you thinking about?" she enquired. Still a bit dazed and confused Laura replied, "Oh nothing. Just flying lessons." Cadman raised an eyebrow and said sceptically, "Flying lessons?"

"Yeah, flying lessons. You know for the jumpers."

"Well I kinda figured that seeing as you can already fly the F-302's. But why do you suddenly want to fly the jumpers for?" she asked her friend.

"Well I figured, just in case someone needs to go to the mainland for whatever reason and everyone is busy I could play taxi driver. Or you know just in case someone needs rescuing." Laura replied. She still seemed to be in a daze. Worried Cadman asked, "Are you ok? You seem kinda out of it. Not your normal sulking self." Laura rolled her eyes before replying, "Yeah I'm fine. Just you know thinking. It's the strangest thing…" she trailed off. "What's the strangest thing? You know Lorne has the same expression on his face. What happened last night?" Laura turned to Cadman clearly more awake. "What? I'm sorry. I'm kinda out of it. What did you say?" she was clearly confused. Cadman made a noise of exasperation, "Have you been asleep for the last five minutes or something?" she demanded. Suddenly Laura stood up and said, "That's it! Sleep! It's the only way he could have found out! Uh oh." Her expression suddenly went from excitement to dread. She turned to Cadman to explain, "Lorne knows why I retired. The real reason." Cadman smiled at her and said, "Well done! So does that mean you're a couple? Do spill all the details." She said excitedly. Laura shook her head, "No, no you don't understand. I lied about why. I must have been talking in my sleep and he asked me why I retired so I obviously told him the truth. He asked me point blank and I lied when I was awake. This isn't good. Besides he's seeing Heightmeyer." Cadman saw her friends face visibly darken before she said, "What have I done?" she shook her head sadly. Cadman's excitement visibly left her face. Then she had an idea, "You still want those flying lessons?"

"Uh I guess. Why do you ask?"

"Ask Lorne to teach you and sort this whole mess out." Cadman said excitedly. Laura shook her head, "And how would I start that conversation off? 'Oh by the way I lied point blank to your face…again.' Yeah I can really see that working out well!" her shoulders sagged as she said, "I may as well accept the fact that me and Lorne are never gonna get together." She sat down completely dejected. Looking at her friend Cadman thought to herself _do I have to do everything myself?_ She turned to her friend and said, "Listen I gotta go meet Carson for dinner, but I will see you later ok?" Laura just nodded her head in reply.

After leaving the lab Laura Cadman was practically running down the corridor towards the mess hall. She knew that she had to find Lorne. _But where can he be? He's not offworld. He could be in the gym_ she thought to herself. Changing direction and heading towards the gym she looked in and saw Lorne and Ronan sparring. She watched for a couple of minutes and saw that Lorne was getting his ass kicked left, right and centre. Laughing to herself, she said out loud, "Excuse me Lorne?" Lorne looked up from his place on the floor and said, "Yeah? What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering what you were doing later?"

"Nothing. Why?" he asked suspiciously. Smiling she said, "Would you mind giving a friend of mine a flying lesson in one of the jumpers?"

"I guess. Would this friend happen to have the same first name as you by any chance?"

"Well that's for me to know and you to find out. Isn't it?" she said wickedly. "OK. Tell this 'friend' of yours to meet me in the jumper at the very back on the left hand side. It doesn't have an assigned pilot yet. May as well give it one now." Cadman smiled again and said, "Thanks. What time?"

"Oh how about in an hour?"

"OK. Thanks again." That said and Cadman shot off again towards the labs.

Finding her friend exactly where she had left her Cadman said breathlessly, "You are to meet your flying instructor in an hour. At the back of the jumper bay in the last jumper on the left hand side. Ok?" Laura turned on her suspiciously, "What have you done? Please tell me you ain't trying to match make?" she groaned. Cadman smiled suspiciously, "So what if I am? I only want my friends to be happy? Is that a crime?" Laura rolled her eyes and didn't reply. "Thanks Cadman. I really appreciate what you're trying to do. But I don't honestly think there is ever a chance of Lorne and me getting together. Not now." Smiling wickedly Cadman said, "We'll see." With that she was off again.

Groaning Laura looked at her watch, _shit I'm late_ she thought as she grabbed her jacket and hurried towards the jumper bay. Running to the last one on the left she burst in through the back door and said, "I'm so sorry I'm late." Lorne looked at her and smiled, "Don't worry about it. You don't mind if Kate joins us on this little lesson do you?" Laura shook her head. "No. I don't mind." Walking to the front of the jumper she sat in the pilots seat and thought to herself, _Now what?_

Take the controls.

_Who is that?_

I'm your AI for this jumper. My names Daniel. What's your name?

_Laura. So you can read my mind right?_

Yes.

_Out of curiosity where did you get the name Daniel from? Coz I have a friend called Daniel._ She laughed out loud slightly. Lorne looked at her funny before she said, "I'm…uh…communicating."

"Ah. So what's it called?"

"Daniel."

"Ah. Well Daniel. You ready to help her out?" Lorne asked the jumper.

"Yes. I'm sure she will be fine." Daniel jumper replied. A noise was made behind her and Laura turned around and just glared at Kate. _Goddamn it I hate her. Daniel can we open your hatch and just let her float in space?_

No. Unfortunately not. Why would you want to do that? Is she not a nice person?

_No. It's not that. You see the man sitting next to me?_

Yes.

Well I'm kinda in love with him. Have been for a while. But she appears to be dating him.

Ah. Did you not tell him this?

Yes or at least I think I did once. We both have feelings for each other but won't admit it or something according to my friend.

_Will you two please be quiet? Laura you need to concentrate._ Shocked Laura looked at Lorne puzzled. Seeing her look he smiled to himself. She opened her mouth to say something. But decided against it and went quiet. The rest of the lesson went by quickly and quietly. When they had landed back in Atlantis Lorne stood up, as did Laura. She looked at him and hugged him while whispering, "Thank you. I would have asked you myself but you know what Cadman's like." She laughed softly. She hadn't even realised that Lorne had his arms around her waist. They both held the hug longer than was necessary. A cough behind her brought Laura back to her senses, pulling away from Lorne she said out loud, "I owe you one."

"I'll hold you to that mind." He said as he walked to the back of the jumper. Realising she wasn't with him he turned and said, "You not coming?"

"No. I'm gonna talk to Daniel for a little while I think. Thanks again." Shrugging his shoulders Lorne and Kate left.


	15. Mind games

Laura sat in the pilots' seat of her jumper. She spoke to Daniel and said, "So why the name Daniel?"

It is a name in the database. He was a great human from Earth.

"Was this mans name Dr Daniel Jackson by any chance?" she asked laughing.

Yes. Why are you laughing?

"I know the man you speak of. He is a good man and a close friend of mine. Tell me about yourself."

Well I don't actually have a proper personality. I feel like I've been waiting years for someone to actually come and fly me. The other jumpers like to tease me that no one likes me or wants to fly me. But now I have you correct?

"Yes. That's correct. Would you mind if I called you DJ? So that I don't get confused between yourself and Daniel? Also who was that other voice that interrupted us earlier?"

no. I do not mind. I believe it was colonel Lorne. he likes you, you know.

"How do you know this? Its not like he told you or anything." She asked DJ suspiciously.

No he did not. But his jumper has great fun telling anyone who will listen that he fell in love with a woman who outranked him at the time. was this woman you?

"It was. But I retired to be with him. So what kind of music do you like?"

I do not know.

"Tell you what. If I bring my laptop down tomorrow with all my music on it. I'll plug it in and you can pick and choose. How does that sound?"

I would like that very much. You are a very nice person Laura Turner.

"Please call me Laura. I'm really sorry DJ, but I have to go back to work. It was very nice to meet you. See you tomorrow." She stood up to go when DJ said, See you tomorrow.

Laura was sitting in her lab again trying her hardest to finish the translations of the ancient ruins. _My god I'm bored._

_Me too. _She looked around confused. There was no one else in her lab. "Who said that?" she asked out loud. When she didn't get an answer, she shook her head deciding that it was just her imagination running away with her. _Oh. I'm hungry. Right get up and get food before you pass out you silly bitch._

_You going to the mess hall?_

_Yeah. Who is this?_

_You know who this is._

_Would I be asking if I knew who it was?_ There was no reply. Getting up and shaking her head again, she walked towards the mess hall. Getting into the food line, she picked up her usual cheese and ham sandwich and a glass of apple juice and a bottle of water. She sat down near the window. When a voice said, _What you thinking?_ She spun around looking to see who could be talking to her. Seeing no one. The mess hall was unusually empty.

_Well? What you thinking?_

_That now I know how McKay felt having Cadman in his head. Who is this?_

_That's for me to know and you to find out. _The voice chuckled. _Ok. I'm definitely going nuts. Not only am I talking to myself but I'm now answering myself as well. The shrink would have a field day with this._ She thought to her self when she heard the chuckle again. She was about to shout at the voice when she heard someone come in the mess hall. It was Lorne. Seeing her he waved and she beckoned him over. "Hi."

"Hey. You ok? You look like your losing your mind." He asked her.

"Yeah I feel like it. Anyways what you doin in here?"

"Getting something to eat. What else do you do in the mess hall?" he asked laughing.

"Ah. I just thought that you would be with what's her face."

"Kate? Na. We're not joined at the hip you know. So what you doin in here?"

"Bored. So I thought I would get something to eat. Thanks again for the flying lesson by the way."

"No problem. Cadman has a habit of sticking her nose in other peoples business if she thinks she can help." _Tell me about it_ Laura thought. Lorne got a strange look on his face when she said, "I do appreciate it though. I would have asked you eventually. But it was nice of her." They were talking for what seemed like ages when a voice in her head said, _So what you doing later?_

_Er…I'm not sure. Who wants to know?_

_I want to know. _Laura looked puzzled for a second before replying _Oh my god. A voice in my head is flirting with me. I'm definitely losing it. _Lorne suddenly chuckled out loud. She looked at him, "What? I didn't say anything."

"Oh nothing." She looked at him suspiciously. _Ok if I guess who this is will you tell me if I'm getting close?_

_Yeah. Ok. Ten questions?_

_Yeah. That I can do. First question, are you male or female?_

_Male. Why did you ask that for?_

_Just had to make sure. Second question. Do I know you well?_

_Yes._

_Hm. If I was to kick you right now would you tell me?_

_Yes. _Lorne visibly braced himself. Laura noticed but didn't say anything.

_Ok. Fourth question how is this even remotely possible?_

_I have no idea. Been able to do it for a while I think. But only really noticed today._

_Really? Why didn't you say anything before now?_

_Scared I guess._

_Didn't think colonels were allowed to get scared._

_We do sometimes. _Laura laughed out loud.

_Favourite sweet?_

_Red jellybeans._ Laura kicked him. _Busted. _Out loud she said, "You know you should at least warn a person before you invade their minds." She laughed at him.

"Sorry. I only realised when you were talking to Daniel in the jumper. Although I'm not sure but I think we can talk to each other in our dreams." He looked thoughtful before going on, "Do you remember when you were kidnapped?" Laura blanched. "Yeah. How can I possibly forget?"

"Well did you dream about being on Atlantis the night before you came back?" Laura looked at him in surprise, "Yeah I did now that you mention it. You were there but I thought it was just a dream. Are you telling me you had the same one?" she asked him in surprise. He nodded. _Holy crap! That…that's not possible. It defies all logic._

"Yes. It does." She growled at him, _Stop doing that!_

_No. Its funny. _

_Yeah well your little shrink won't like it. Speak of the devil. Has she got you lo-jacked or something? _He scowled at her.

"Lorne? What are you doing in here? You said Sheppard wanted to see you." Laura raised her eyebrows, _Lying already? That's not good._

_Shut up you._ Lorne fidgeted under Heightmeyer's gaze. "He did. But he's disappeared somewhere. Something about McKay and an ancient device that he wants turning on." He turned back to Laura and said, "See you later." _I'll speak to you later,_ he added.

_Look forward to it._ She watched as Lorne and Heightmeyer left the mess hall and thought _nice ass._ Lorne turned and shot her a look while she sat laughing both out loud and in her head. _Sorry couldn't resist. Well this is gonna be interesting._

_Yeah tell me about it._

A couple of days later, they were sitting in a more crowded mess hall, having some dinner when Heightmeyer came over and placed her tray next to Lorne's. _Great. You know she's been following me around since she saw us talking the other night._

_Really? That's a little bit obsessive. What she afraid we're gonna run off somewhere or something? She laughed._

_Don't laugh she might._

_This is gonna be fun._ They had been practising with their new ability and Laura had quickly learned how to switch it off. She turned to Heightmeyer, "So Kate. Tell me how are you? I seem to be seeing you everywhere lately." Heightmeyer scowled before replying, "Well you know. I do have a patients." Laura looked at Lorne in mock shock, "Aww Lorne. Why are you in therapy?" she asked him innocently. Before he could reply Heightmeyer jumped in, "He isn't in therapy."

"Really? I thought he was just with the way you seem to be attached at the hip lately." She stood up and said, "Well I'd best get going. I have to go offworld in an hour. It was nice speaking to you both." She switched it the connection back on knowing she was going to get an earful.

_Your going offworld?_

_Yeah. Why?_

_Thanks by the way. I'm getting an earful. Ooooh you've really pissed her off this time._

_Really? What's she saying?_

_Apparently I have to stop talking to you._

_Hm. We could have fun with this. I'm guessing she don't know about this little connection that we have?_

_No. She would put me in a padded cell if she found out. She doesn't even want me to be in the same room as you._

_Again this is doable. Wanna try?_

_Yeah ok._

Laura Cadman walked to the labs, where her best friend worked. Knocking on the door she said, "Laura? You in here?"

"Yeah. I'm in here. Shit! Am I running late?"

"Yeah. Don't worry I thought you might be. So I came here early." Laura visibly relaxed and then suddenly started grinning like a Cheshire cat. Cadman looked at her friend in confusion, "What did I say?" Laura looked at her in confusion, "You didn't say anything. I'll be two seconds."

_Lorne I gotta go. Speak to you later._ She clicked off the connection and turned to Cadman, "Ready?"

"Yeah, so what's going on with you?"

"Nothings going on with me. Why?"

"Oh nothing. It's just that every now and then you'll start grinning for no apparent reason. Come to think of it so does Lorne. Yet I haven't seen you two in the same room for a while. What's going on?" Laura took a deep breath and said, "Well Heightmeyer doesn't want him anywhere near me. This is going to sound really strange but we have this…connection. I can't really describe it."

"Well we can all see that! You both need to get a room." Cadman said exasperated.

"Yeah well as long as he's seeing her. There's nothing I can do about it." They walked to the rec room to watch the new movie that the _Daedalus_ had brought over. She froze. Sat on the couch were Lorne and Heightmeyer. Groaning Laura walked over to the chair that was on the far side of the room. _Great. Just great. Now I'm going to have death glares shot at me all night_ she thought miserably. She settled herself in for the long haul. The movie that night was _Hannibal Rising_, she really wanted to watch the film as she had seen the other three. Every now and then she would get up to get a drink and she would meet Heightmeyer's glares. She couldn't concentrate on the film so she stood. As she did she got a sudden wave of anger wash over her as she walked past Lorne. _What the hell was that?_ She thought to herself. She still hadn't turned the connection back on so she knew that he couldn't hear what she was thinking. She was near the door when Cadman grabbed her arm, "Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm leaving."

"Why?" Laura just looked at her before replying, "Are you serious? Are you telling me you haven't noticed that bitch from hell staring at me all night?" Cadman shook her head, "All I've noticed is Lorne looking miserable, and looking at you. Never really paid much attention to her."

"Look I'm really sorry but I'm really uncomfortable so I'm gonna go and talk to DJ for a little while. I'll watch the movie another night." Before Cadman could reply Laura had left the room and headed for her quarters. Once inside she grabbed her laptop and went to the jumper bay.


	16. Daedalus arrives

Walking into the back of her jumper she said, "Hey DJ. How are you today?"

I'm very well thank you. How are you today?

"Pissed off. I have a surprise for you though."

Really? What is it?

"You remember me telling you about Harry Potter?"

Yes.

"Well I asked the _Daedalus_ to bring me the audio cd's so that I could put them on my laptop so that you can listen to it instead of me reading out loud. You ready?"

Yes. You didn't have to do that just for me.

"Well I think everyone needs to read Harry Potter. It's a great series of books. They are quite funny as well." She said as she plugged in her laptop so that DJ could download them. Once it was done DJ said, why are you here again? You have been here everyday for the last three weeks. Is there something wrong?

_No. I'm just lonely. So I thought I would come and talk to you._

I'm sorry but I don't believe you. Has something happened between you and Lorne?

_No. You mean other than the bitch from hell?_

Yes. Other than her. If it is any consolation he misses you.

We still talk but it's not the same. Its strange I was in the rec room before I came here and I could have sworn I felt anger from him. I'm really confused DJ. So I'm going to sit here and read and try and sort through my thoughts. Is that ok?

Yes that is fine. I will listen to the copies that you have given me also.

They both lapsed into a comfortable silence, Laura reading the seventh Harry Potter book and DJ listening to the first. Every now and then DJ would chuckle out loud. Laura smiled. _At least he's having fun_ she thought to herself. She sighed and then suddenly stood up. She could have sworn she heard a knocking noise.

As I watched her leave, I felt so angry. How dare Kate dictate my life like this? _You know very fine well why she does it_ said his conscience. _Yes, yes I know exactly why thank you. Its because she knows I'm in love with Turner right?_ My conscience didn't answer this time. I want to talk to Turner but she's turned off the connection. Groaning I shifted in my seat. I really wasn't comfortable sitting here watching this film with Kate. She didn't even like these kinds of movies. I shifted some more before Kate huffily said, "What's the matter with you? I thought you wanted to see this movie?"

"I do. But I'm bored. I can't seem to get comfy. I'm gonna go for a walk. You stay here and finish watching the film." She looked at him sceptically. "But I want to come with you." I shook his head, "I thought you wanted to watch this film more than I did? Listen I'm in no real mood for company. I'll talk to you later." I pecked her lightly on the cheek and stood up. As I headed to the door, Cadman grabbed my arm. "What the hell is going on?" she demanded. I looked at her in surprise before answering, "What do you mean? There's nothing going on that I'm aware of." She rolled her eyes at me. "I know there is something going on. I just can't work out what it is. You and Laura have been acting really weird these past few weeks. You aren't being your usual self and I _know_ there is something going on with her. She just won't tell me. Now spill it." I looked at her and didn't say anything. Instead I said, "Where is she?" in a voice barely above a whisper. She looked at me like I was mad and then said, "She's with DJ…again." I nodded at her and left. I headed straight for the jumper bay. Standing just outside her jumper I knocked on the hatch.

"DJ? Is that you knocking?" she asked her jumper.

No. I now know who you and Lorne remind me of.

"Oh? Who?" she asked curiously.

Ron, Hermione, and Lavender. They are also in a love triangle of sorts.

"Hang on. That doesn't happen until book 6. Are you on that book already? Triangles are not nice shapes." She told her jumper. There was another knock.

I am on the sixth book. I am what you call addicted. Are you going to get that?

"Yes. I'm doing it now." She walked up to the control panel and lowered the door to see Lorne standing there.

"Can I come in?" he asked nervously. She moved away and beckoned him in. "What's up? I must admit I wasn't expecting to see you. Thought you were watching the film." She asked him. He looked at her funny before replying, "I was. But I got kinda bored. Besides I wanted to apologise for the way Kate was behaving." She felt a wave of anger run through her entire and she clenched her fists and teeth. Lorne looked overwhelmed, "What was that?" he asked. "What was what?" she replied through clenched teeth. "Did you just feel angry?" he asked. "What makes you say that?" she spat at him. "I just felt it." He was looking mildly surprised. When she said, "Are you telling me that we can feel each others emotions now as well?"

"Apparently so."

"Brilliant. This is not going to go well."

"What makes you say that?" he asked softly. She rolled her eyes at him; "Well as you can probably that I'm having trouble controlling my emotions as it is. I don't need yours on top. By the way why were you angry before? And who at?"

"Kate. For driving you away." He felt a sudden rush of…what was that? It definitely didn't come from him. She sagged and sat down. He sat next to her. _I can't do this anymore._

"Can't do what?" he asked her.

This. It's too hard. Its been getting harder and harder. I'm not going to be able to control my emotions or my feelings for much longer.

"I know." He said quietly. He grabbed her hand and held it. They both felt it at the same time. Only this time it was amplified because they both felt the same emotion. She looked at him and with her spare hand held his face. She smiled at him. With his other hand he reached behind her neck and pulled her closer to him. They were only inches apart. She could feel herself about to give in and kiss him for all she was worth when her radio chirped in her ear. _For fucks sake! Give me a break. That's all I ask._ She dipped her head and tapped her ear, "What's up?"

"Laura its Elizabeth. As you know the _Daedalus _arrives tomorrow, with a couple of special guests on board."

"Yeah. What about em?"

"I've just received a data burst requesting that you be there to meet them. Will you be available?"

"Yeah. Can't see why not. See you in the morning Elizabeth." She clicked off her radio and turned back to Lorne. She was about to say something when he cut her off by kissing her passionately. She was in shock for a couple of seconds before she started to respond just as passionately. Her brain kicked in after five minutes _Stop! Stop right now! _Said her conscience.

_Huh? Why? _Asked Lorne.

Because he's seeing Heightmeyer. This isn't right and you know it. Said her conscience.

She's right you know. This time it was Lorne's conscience that had spoken. They pulled apart reluctantly and groaned. "This just got more complicated. You do realise that right?" she asked him.

"Yeah. I know. But I can't change the way I feel. Listen I'm going offworld for a couple of weeks, some sort of trade agreement or something. Can we talk when I get back?" he asked her.

"Yeah. I can't see why not." She smiled at him and stood up. What the hell are we gonna do?

I don't know. But we will figure this out.

You do realise Heightmeyer hates me.

Yeah I know. But I don't and that's what matters. He smiled at her and pulled her close again. They stood there for five minutes just staring into each other's eyes. She leaned forward and kissed him lightly before pulling back and saying, "Bye DJ. See you tomorrow. You may even meet Daniel." She looked back at Lorne and took his hand pulling him out of the jumper. Come on. We've both got a big day tomorrow. Will I see you before you go offworld?

Probably. I have to meet the Daedalus as well. Then we go. They walked in silence back to their quarters. Both thinking about what had happened in the back of the jumper. As Laura climbed into bed, she hugged her teddy bear and smiled.

She was still on cloud 9 when she got up to meet the Daedalus. Standing next to Lorne she smiled at everyone and said good morning. Little did they know of the secret conversation she was having in her head.

Hey you.

Hey yourself. Have a nice sleep?

Mmm. It was very nice thank you. She replied as she grinned.

Stop doing that! People will think your strange he laughed. She was about to say something reply when the ramp to the Daedalus lowered to reveal, Daniel, Vala and Mitchell. She smiled at Daniel and walked over to hug him when a wave of jealously hit her with such intensity that she nearly fell over. Down boy. We're just friends. You're the only one for me and you know it. Besides Daniel is in love with Vala he just doesn't know it yet. She pulled away from Daniel and said, "Pleased to be finally here?"

"Hell yes. Its just like I imagined it to be. You gonna show us around?"

"Actually I am. Dr Weir has to see colonel Lorne's team off." Laura, Daniel, Vala and Mitchell walked away. Laura looked at Lorne and thought, Be careful. I love you. Speak to you soon. She got her reply in a wave of happiness and love from him. Smiling she showed the group around Atlantis.


	17. Cranky

Lorne had gone offworld while Laura was showing Daniel, Vala and Mitchell around Atlantis. She had just showed them where they would be sleeping for the duration of their stay when an uneasy feeling settled over her. Mentally shaking herself, she said to the trio, "I'm off to my lab. I've got a couple of translations to finish up." Seeing Daniel's look she added, "I will give you a buzz if I need you. Go have some fun. Explore. But keep your earpieces on…just in case." Smiling at them she walked towards her lab and proceeded to try and shake the uneasy feeling that refused to budge. She worked tirelessly for hours, until she couldn't anymore. Deciding she was hungry she headed for the mess hall where she joined Daniel, Vala, Mitchell, John and McKay.

"So what you all talking about?" she asked them.

"Oh you know. Just talking about random things. I particularly enjoyed the story of McKay and Cadman. Feel really sorry for Cadman having been stuck in his head for a few days." Mitchell replied. Laura grimaced. She remembered the day Lorne had told her about it on the _Daedalus_. The knot in her stomach tightened. "Excuse me. I'm no longer hungry." She said and left the mess hall. Instead of going to her lab she walked to her quarters. _Sleep might ease this feeling _she thought to herself. Lying on her back and looking at her ceiling she tried connecting to Lorne. They had not tested the range on their mysterious connection figuring it would distract one another if they were offworld. Although Laura only went offworld every now and then. Because she couldn't shake this uneasiness she would give it a try just this once.

_Lorne?_ She asked quietly. _Can you hear me?_ She got no response. Sighing she tried again and again she got nothing. Giving up she tried to sleep. After an hour she gave up and deemed it a lost cause. Getting off her bed she went to her lab, where she stayed for four days straight.

A young lab assistant was running through the halls looking for McKay. She was in tears by the time she found him in the mess hall with Daniel, Vala, colonel Sheppard, and colonel Mitchell. The assistant was visibly shaking by the time she had reached the table clutching a file folder. She took a couple of deep breaths and said, "Dr McKay? I have the translations that you requested." Without looking up McKay snapped his fingers and said, "Well don't just stand there. Give them here." Snapping his fingers impatiently. She handed them over and practically fainted when Daniel said to her, "Are you alright?" Her eyes went wide. She had, had heard many stories about Daniel Jackson but she had never met the man. Now he was talking to her and she stuttered, "No…no sir. Miss Turner isn't well. I know she isn't."

"What do you mean she isn't well?" he asked her gently. Before she could reply McKay made an indistinguishable noise before turning to Daniel and saying, "Could you check this translation? I'm no expert but I don't think this is right." Puzzled Daniel took the folder and frowned, "Your right. This isn't right. Laura doesn't usually make mistakes." Turning to the assistant he said, "You were saying? About Miss Turner not being well?" She gave a frightened yelp before saying, "She hasn't left the lab in four days! No sleep! No eating!" she shrieked. Daniel suddenly looked worried. Mitchell knew this look and said, "What is it?"

"We have to get her to the infirmary. This isn't good. Imagine Teal'c low on tretonin and then imagine that but one hundred times worse." A look of comprehension dawned on Mitchell's face.

"Why does she need to go to the infirmary?" asked Sheppard.

"Have you ever noticed that Laura goes to bed quite early?" asked Daniel. Sheppard and McKay nodded. "Well that's because Laura is one of these people that needs a minimum of 13 hours sleep. Every night. Or she gets very, very cranky. I learned that the hard way. She needs to be sedated just so that she can catch up on the lost sleep." Everyone's face paled. They had never seen Laura cranky. Not wanting to waste more time Daniel took charge, "Mitchell, you and Sheppard go and get her. I guarantee you she will not go willingly or quietly to the infirmary. Call if you need us. She may even need to be tranquillised." Sheppard looked mortified, "Surely she won't be that bad?" Daniel just looked at him. "The rest of us will go and prepare the infirmary." They all stood up and left to do their tasks.

Mitchell and Sheppard headed for Laura's lab. On the way they ran into a couple more crying assistants. _This can't be good_ thought Sheppard. Nearing the doorway, Mitchell went in first. "Hey Laura. Remember me?" asked Mitchell casually. Laura looked at him and glowered. "What do you want?" she demanded. Mitchell walked around to her side of the table, Sheppard still hadn't walked in, he had seen Rodney in one too many tantrums and knew to stay out, especially when crying assistants were involved. Mitchell gently placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Come on. We need to get you to the infirmary so that you can sleep." She looked at the hand on her shoulder and then looked at the doorway where Sheppard was lurking. Tilted her head to the side and grabbed Mitchell by the collar and flung him out the door against the wall. Knocking him unconscious. Sheppard stepped back in surprise and tapped his earpiece. "We need the doc and some tranquilliser darts." He said. A couple of minutes later they all came running down the corridor. Beckett went straight over to Mitchell and said to Sheppard, "What happened?"

"Laura didn't want to come out. So she threw him out." said Sheppard. McKay looked in disbelief, "Are you telling me that she physically threw him out the room with no help?" he asked incredulously. Sheppard nodded. "I don't believe you. I'll go in and get her out." he said. Before anyone could stop him he waltzed into the room. Sheppard looked at the others and said, "You'd better step back. Just in case." No sooner had he said it McKay came flying out the room and slammed against the wall. He managed to say, "Ok. you were right." Before he passed out. Daniel grabbed one of the tranquilliser guns, walked to the doorway and shot at Laura. They waited for the thump before they ventured into the room. Laura was out cold.


	18. Dreams and genes

A/N: I just wanna say thank you to Lightbane for the idea of how Lorne and Laura communicate.

Laura looked around. _Where the hell am I?_ She thought to herself. She looked to her left and to her right. _Ok. I'm definitely not on Atlantis anymore. So where the hell am I?_ She decided to walk down a corridor to see what was down it. Seeing nothing down it she decided to take a left once she reached the bottom of the corridor. Turning she noticed cells. Walking down and looking in each one she realised that most of them were empty except for a couple. She didn't recognise the people in them until she reached the last one. Looking in she noticed that Laura Cadman was sitting on the floor and Lorne was asleep on the little bed. "Lorne!" she hissed. He didn't move. "Lorne." she said slightly louder this time. He still didn't move. She turned her attention towards Cadman, "Cadman!" she hissed again. Cadman was looking right at her yet straight through her as if she wasn't there. Groaning loudly she turned her attention back to Lorne. "Lorne!" this time she shouted at him. He groaned and looked at her. He blinked a couple of times and said, "Is that really you?" he asked her. As if he wasn't entirely sure she was really there. She nodded, "Yeah. It's me. You ok?" she asked him.

"It took you long enough. What have you been doing for the last four days?"

"Well I haven't slept in four days…hang on. If I'm talking to you and you haven't come back to Atlantis and you're in a cell. That means I'm asleep. Besides what's happened to you?" she looked him up and down. He looked terrible. He was shaking and his left wrist was swollen. He looked like he was struggling to stand up. Teetering on his feet he sat back down. "Well let's see. I haven't eaten in four days, I think my left wrist is broken and well they killed King and Prescott. How's Sparrow?"

"He's fine. He is recovering fine. So what happened?" she asked him.

"Well when we arrived everything seemed to be fine. The locals were a bit jumpy, but that was too be expected. Although the last time we were here we became friends so I don't understand why they were jumpy. We were all sat around the table ready to start the negotiations when the Genii came. That was why they were jumpy. Next thing I know I'm being smacked over the head. My wrist was broken when it got caught on something. Next thing I know I'm waking up here. They don't give us food and the water we get isn't exactly healthy. But we take what we can get. That was four days ago. So how are you gonna get us outta here?" he asked. She looked at him and said, "What? Are you trying to get rid of me already?" she asked in mock annoyance.

"No. I'm not trying to get rid of you. You're a sight for sore eyes. But you can't stay here. Someone might see you." He said with concern. She looked at him with her head tilted to the side and said, "Well there's a slight problem with that. You see I won't wake up for a couple of days. I have to get a minimum of 13 hours a night, and I haven't slept for four days so you do the math. Oh and I don't think they can see me. Watch." She walked through the bars into the cell. Lorne looked in shock, "How did you do that?" he asked her. She shrugged her shoulders, "Well I'm not really here. So you know…" she said as she walked over to him and sat down beside him. He looked like he was about to collapse when she held his head and pulled him towards her lap. "Go to sleep. I'll still be here." She said as she stroked his hair. He lifted his legs up onto the bed so that he could get more comfortable and he drifted into an uneasy sleep.

She woke up a couple of days later. Feeling very groggy she said, "What happened?" Beckett looked up in shock and smiled. "Ah nice to see you in the land of the living again. I'm sorry we had to sedate you. You hadn't slept in four days but I think its safe to assume that you actually caught up on all that you missed." He chuckled. She looked around and she remembered her dream. She sat up and struggled to get out of the bed. "Just where do you think your going?" he asked her. "I have to talk to John. Right now. It's Lorne and his team. They're in trouble." She muttered as she still tried to get out of the bed. Finally managing against Beckett's wishes, she ran along the halls towards the gate room. "John? I need to talk to you." She said as she approached the control room. Spinning around he said, "Should you be out of bed?" he asked her. She merely rolled her eyes at him before saying, "That's not the point. Listen Lorne and his team are in trouble. The Genii. King and Prescott are dead. Lorne and Cadman are alive but barely. Lorne has a broken wrist and both haven't eaten since they left here." Everyone looked at her in surprise. "What?" she said in exasperation. "How do you know all this?" asked McKay. She looked at the floor before saying, "Well me and Lorne can communicate. Telepathically. And apparently over great distances if we are dreaming? We don't know how though."

"Ah I see. So you dreamed it so it must be true. Hm must be because of the gene. Can you talk to anyone else?" asked McKay. She looked up dumbfounded, "I don't know. I haven't tried. You believe me?"

"Yeah. Why not? The wraith can do it so why couldn't the ancients do it? Its entirely plausible." He said matter of factly. Laura turned to John "Are you gonna go get them or not?" she asked him.

"Yeah. We're gonna go and get them. You up for a rescue mission?" he asked her. Laura nodded and said, "When do we go?"

"One hour. Go gear up." He said. She walked away to go and get ready. One hour later she ready to go.

Walking through the gate, Laura, John, McKay, Teyla and Ronan walked towards the village. Once reaching it, it appeared that all of the villagers had taken to hiding in their little houses. Laura turned to John and said, "We don't have time for this. Lorne and Cadman don't have time for this."

"Lead the way." Laura followed a path that led to a much larger building and said, "This is it." John and Teyla took point, with Laura and McKay in the middle and Ronan watched from behind to make sure no one was coming. Laura pointed them in the right direction and they quickly found the cell with Lorne and Cadman inside. John blew open the door and Laura rushed inside to see Lorne. "Hey you." She said to him. He looked at her and said, "You left me and didn't come back. Are you real this time?" he asked her. She laughed softly and said, "Yeah. I'm real and I'm not going anywhere this time. I promise." John cleared his throat and said, "Can you two walk back to the gate?" Lorne stood up weakly and held on to Laura for support, "Yeah I can't see why not sir. What about the Genii?" he asked. "They appear to have left. So I think we should get you two back to Atlantis before they decide to come back." There were nods all round and they walked out of the building. They got back to the gate in record time considering Lorne and Cadman could barely walk. They arrived back to Atlantis and Beckett immediately put Lorne and Cadman onto stretchers and got them back to the infirmary. Laura walked with Lorne as far as the infirmary when Heightmeyer appeared around the corner. She glared at Laura and said, "I thought I told you to stay away from him!" Laura rolled her eyes and continued into the infirmary. "Are they going to be ok?" she asked Beckett. "They're malnourished obviously and Lorne has a broken wrist which I will set and plaster it. But they should both be fine in a couple of weeks." Laura sighed with relief and sat down beside Lorne's bed and said, "Can I stay with him?" she asked Beckett. "Yeah. But I don't want any trouble. They need to rest." Laura nodded and got comfy. She was not going to move until he woke up.


	19. Red jellybeans

True to her word, Laura never left Lorne's bedside until he woke up. He was moving a lot more, albeight it stiffly, when he turned his head and looked at her smiling. "Hey you. How long you been here?" he asked her croakily. She shrugged her shoulders and held his hand, before saying, "Awhile. Dr Beckett has been running interference for me with the shrink." She smiled at him when a voice spoke behind her, "What the hell are you doing here?" Laura stood up and spun around still holding Lorne's hand. She gripped it and said, "I'm visiting a friend. You got a problem with that?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"You know every fine well I have a problem with that." She said. She glared at the interlaced fingers and said, "Now get the hell out." she added. Laura gave Lorne's hand another squeeze and then left. _I'll be back later. I promise._ She thought.

_Ok. See you later._ Laura walked past Heightmeyer and smirked at her before leaving.

Laura headed for her lab as she had some translations to do for McKay. She now had a backlog of work to do because she had refused to leave Lorne's side until he had regained consciousness from the sedative that Beckett had given him. He was still dehydrated and malnourished but he would soon be up and about. Beckett had set his arm and the cast could come off in a few weeks. She had been visiting him every night and then going to bed before Heightmeyer would go and see him. He never knew she was there as he was asleep. Last night had been an accident she had fallen asleep and Beckett couldn't wake her, which is how she had run into Heightmeyer. Sighing she got rid of all her paperwork and went to her quarters. She hadn't been sleeping well but at least she was sleeping. Deciding to have a nap she lay down on her bed and fell asleep. She was woken up by Dr Beckett's voice in her ear, "Laura? Its Dr Beckett."

"Go ahead." She said groggily.

"Have I woken you up?"

"Yeah. But it doesn't matter. What can I do for you?"

"Heightmeyer just left. I thought I would tell you so that you can come and visit now. As she is determined to come back tonight." She could almost imagine his eyes rolling.

"Thanks Carson. I'll be right there." She clicked off her earpiece and walked to her wardrobe. Pulling on a clean t-shirt, she picked up the jar of red jellybeans that she still hadn't given to him yet. Walking towards the infirmary with beans in hand she arrived there within a few minutes. She smiled when she saw that Lorne was awake and attempting to eat something. She hid the jar behind her back and cleared her throat. "Hi." She said smiling at him. "What's that behind your back?" he asked curiously. She just chuckled at him as he attempted to see behind her back. "You miss nothing do you? How you feeling?"

"Better. So what is it?" he asked again. Laughing she pulled the jar out from behind her back. He looked like a kid at Christmas she handed them to him. "When did you do that?"

"When I was back on Earth. I had some time to kill. So I thought I would do them for you." He groaned in frustration, "What? I thought you liked the red ones?" she said.

"Oh I do. It's not that. It's just that I can't devour them now. My stomach still isn't holding down food. Your cruel."

"I'm not as cruel as the shrink." She replied laughing.

"This is true. She's a royal bitch." Laura groaned in exasperation. "So why are you still with her? You do realise your going to have to lie to her about where you got them from." Lorne nodded. They had been talking for a couple of hours when Dr Beckett came in and said, "Sorry to interrupt you two. But Laura you'd best get going. Heightmeyer will be here in a couple of minutes and to be honest I don't want a full blown argument erupting in my infirmary."

"No problem doc. Lorne I will see you soon." She leaned over and kissed him on the temple and left the infirmary. She had to hide behind a marine otherwise Heightmeyer would have seen her. Laughing she walked back to her quarters so that she could continue her nap.

**A/N: Sorry about the shortness and randomness of this chapter.**


	20. Green with envy

For Daniel, Vala and Mitchell's last night on Atlantis there was going to be a party of sorts. It also meant that the rest of the expedition could have a night of fun. Everyone was going to have the night off. Laura was actually looking forward to it. She was going to wear a long, dark green dress with medium sized straps and no sleeves. Laura and Cadman were going to do each other's hair or rather Cadman was going to do Laura's hair and her own.

Laura was keeping everyone guessing about what she was going to wear. After two days of Cadman nagging her to see her in her dress Laura had finally relented. When she had stepped out of the bathroom Cadman's face had split into a grin. "Lorne is gonna freak when he sees you in that. And when I say freak I mean in a good way. That means that Heightmeyer will be gone and you and Lorne will finally get to be a couple by the end of the night." She had said. Laura hoped she would be right.

Going to get ready on the night of the ball, Laura walked towards Cadman's room. She had managed to find a bag of sorts to hide her dress from prying eyes. Almost everyone would be there; people were so excited that no one could keep their attention on whatever job they were supposed to be doing. Laura had announced the day before that her team had the whole day off. Laura walked past McKay's lab to hear him shouting at someone. _Poor bugger_ thought Laura and smiled to herself when she realised who he was shouting at. It was Lorne. He had apparently activated something he shouldn't have. She stuck her head in the door and pulled a face behind McKay's back and she quickly bolted when he had burst out laughing. This incensed McKay more when he realised that there was no one there when he had turned around.

Giggling she rang the bell to Cadman's quarters to announce her arrival and then let herself in.

"What are you giggling at?" asked Cadman.

"Oh you know. Just McKay shouting at Lorne." she looked sheepish before adding, "Which I may have made worse."

"Ah I see. So ready to get your hair done?" Laura looked at her worriedly, "What are you gonna do?"

"You'll just have to trust me." Cadman said wickedly. An hour later Cadman and Laura were almost ready. They put the finishing touches to their outfits. Once done they left Cadman's quarters and walked towards the mess hall.

The mess hall looked completely different. There were streamers everywhere. There was even a few helium balloons as well as the normal ones. They had even managed to get a disco ball. Spotting Daniel and company Laura began to walk over to say hi when she spotted Lorne and Heightmeyer there. Seeing them she turned on her heel and was about to head in a different direction when Cadman grabbed her and said, "I don't think so. Come on. You can't avoid him all night. Besides how will you know what Lorne thinks if your not around him?" Laura didn't say anything as she was dragged over to the group.

"Hey everyone! Wow doesn't this place look different?" asked Cadman cheerfully.

"Yeah it does." Daniel replied. Laura was shifting on her feet uncomfortably. Everyone could feel the tension. Sheppard tried to break it by saying, "Wow. You ladies look very nice."

"Thank you sir. You have no idea how long it took me to get ready…" Cadman said laughing and then pointed at Laura and said; "yet it only took her five minutes! And somehow she still manages to look stunning. What do you think Lorne?" Lorne hadn't stopped staring at her since they had come over and this hadn't gone unnoticed by Heightmeyer. Before he could reply Laura said, "Excuse me. I'm hungry." She left hurriedly and walked over to the buffet table. She picked up a plate and placed some food on it, then proceeded to go outside for some fresh air.

Once outside she let the breath out that she hadn't noticed she'd been holding. She gripped the railing with her spare hand to steady herself. _What was I thinking coming here tonight?_ She asked herself. When no answer came she began to pick at the food she had picked up, when a voice startled her.

"You do look stunning." She turned around and faced Lorne.

"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself. Oh I'm sorry for getting you in trouble with McKay."

"Don't worry about it. You having a good time?" Laura shrugged her shoulders. "Its not to bad. I'd probably enjoy it more if the shrink wasn't shooting me death glares every five minutes." Lorne's face darkened before he said, "Yeah. Sorry about that." He stopped and listened to the music filtering outside. "Can I have this dance?" he asked her. She looked at him and smiled, "Course you can. What song is playing?"

"Everything I do (I do it for you)."

"I like that song. Prefer Summer of 69 though." She said laughing. He pulled her closer to him as they swayed to the music. They were so lost in their own little world that they didn't see someone watching them. Once the song was had finished Lorne put his hand on her cheek and gently pushed her head up so that she was looking at him. He leaned down and gently kissed her on the lips. A small groan escaped from her as she deepened the kiss. Gasping for air slightly they pulled apart and looked at each other. A cough from behind them brought them back to reality. Lorne spun around.

"How long have you been standing there?" he demanded.

"Just arrived. I was worried." Heightmeyer replied.

"I was just getting some fresh air. Is that a crime?" he asked her annoyed.

"No. Like I said I was worried. Who else is out here?"

"No one. I'm out here alone." Laura was hidden in the shadows.

"You coming back in then?" she asked him. Lorne sighed and followed Heightmeyer back into the mess hall. Laura waited ten minutes and then went back in herself.

She walked over to the group and said, "I'm off. Daniel, Vala, Mitchell, it was lovely seeing you all again. Don't be strangers." She smiled at them and gave each of them a hug. She left the mess hall smiling and headed towards her quarters. Then everything went black.


	21. Lucky

All of the girls had said good night not long after Laura had left. It had been a long few weeks and everyone was feeling its effects. Only John, Daniel, Lorne, McKay, Carson, Ronan and Mitchell were left in the mess hall with a couple of other stragglers.

"Well has been interesting to say the least." John said with a grin.

"How sir?" asked Lorne. John looked at him and his grin widened.

"Well let's see. The battle lines were drawn. Actually I should say the battle lines were redrawn because they were already drawn and you and Laura just completely ignored them." He chuckled at Lorne's flustered face. "Your one lucky man to have a woman like Laura. She's one of those women who would do absolutely everything in her power to be with the man she loves." He added with a sigh. The group looked at him in surprise. They had never heard John Sheppard sigh, Mitchell couldn't understand this and asked, "What about you and Teyla?" John nearly choked on the drink he had taken. Many people on Atlantis suspected that John and Teyla had feelings for each other. However the expedition had seen the arguments between Sheppard and Bates about Sheppard's "personal feelings". No one ever brought around him. But this other colonel just had.

"Me and Teyla? You've got to be kidding right?" Six pairs of eyes rolled at him. He really was oblivious.

"Oh come on! Just admit it already. We already know anyway." Rodney said exasperated. He had known for ages and he wasn't known for realising anything that was going on around him. Much less other human interaction. John scoffed at him and countered, "What about you and Weir?" McKay flushed and opened his mouth to retaliate but couldn't say anything. He was speechless. Lorne took advantage of the silence and said, "You know both of you should say something. You never know they might feel the same way. In fact I'm willing to bet a whole months pay on it." Daniel rounded on him.

"Ok. I'll take some of that action. However what I want to know is what you're going to do about Laura and that shrink." Lorne shifted uncomfortably. "I…uh…uh…I don't know what to do. To be honest." He stammered. Suddenly the penny dropped for Mitchell.

"So you're the one she retired for? Well first thing you gotta do is get rid of that Heightmeyer chick. She's bad news."

"Oh? What makes you say that?" asked McKay.

"I don't know. Just a bad feeling I guess. But as long as she's around Laura could be in serious trouble."

"I take it you've never seen her fight…" said Sheppard and then added "when she isn't sleep deprived?" Mitchell shook his head. "Trust me. She can take care of herself."

"He's right. She can almost beat me." Ronan said. Ronan rarely spoke but when he did, he spoke volumes.

"Wow. That's impressive." Mitchell said.

"Exactly. So I wouldn't worry." John said, with a twinkle in his eyes. He had noticed the way Mitchell had been looking at Laura all the way through his visit. But tonight his eyes had practically jumped out of his head when he had seen her. The men spoke for a couple more hours on random things when McKay said, "Right I'm off to bed. I'll see you all later. Good night." He stood up and walked out of the mess hall.

McKay was walking towards his lab because he had forgotten something when he had noticed a lump lying on the floor. Deciding to investigate he walked over and gasped in surprise. There was blood everywhere. He couldn't tell who it was until he got closer and he realised it was Laura. He kneeled down to check her pulse and after a couple of minutes he finally found it. It was there but barely. She was also cold. Knowing that he shouldn't move her, he let himself into her room and pulled the quilt off her bed. Going back outside he placed it on top of her and ran back towards the mess hall. He had to find Beckett. Gasping for air he went into the mess hall and to his dismay he only found Sheppard.

"Where's…where's Beckett?" he asked breathlessly. Hearing McKay John turned and said, "He's gone to bed. Why? What's happened?"

"I…I…need him. Laura's been hurt and I don't know how badly." Shocked Sheppard jumped up from his seat and started to pull McKay out of the mess hall. "Where is she? I'll go and get Beckett. You wait with her."

"She's outside her quarters. What do I do?" McKay asked. There were many things that McKay could handle. But this wasn't one of them.

"Just stay with her. Keep her calm if she wakes up." McKay went paler. Seeing this Sheppard said, "She is alive right?"

"Barely." Sheppard turned on his heel and ran without saying another word. McKay ran back to Laura.

_What the hell is all that banging?_ Beckett thought. He plodded towards the door and opened it. He was surprised to see John at his door looking worried.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Its Laura. She's hurt down by her quarters."

"How badly?" asked Beckett as he grabbed some medical supplies.

"I'm not sure. Rodney found her. He's with her now." John answered.

"Right lets go then." The pair hurried off down the corridors.

McKay was sitting beside Laura holding her left hand. He was so out of his depth he didn't know what to do. He suddenly heard running footsteps coming towards him. breathing a sigh of relief he said, "What took you so long?" Beckett didn't answer and said, "Holy crap." As he knelt down to examine Laura. After five minutes he determined that she could be moved to the infirmary. He called for his med team.

"Should we call Lorne?" asked Rodney.

"No. I want to get her under the scanner and checked out. I can't do that with him hovering and asking questions." Beckett said. Rodney and John looked at him in surprise. He had sounded cold and uncaring. Two things the doctor wasn't.

"I'm sorry. I still think it's the best thing for now though." John and Rodney nodded and let Beckett and his med team whisk her away. John turned to McKay and said, "I want this area taped off until we know exactly what's happened here." McKay nodded and wondered off to get something to string across the hallway outside her room. Sheppard walked to the gate room and ordered four marines to stand outside the tape and if they saw Lorne hen they had to send him to the infirmary. They nodded their understanding and walked to their new stations.

John wasn't surprised to see McKay in the infirmary by the time he arrived there after debriefing the marines.

"Any news?" he asked. McKay shook his head. This incident had him them more than they were willing to let on.

The next morning Evan Lorne woke up with a smile on his face. Today was the day he was going to break up with Heightmeyer, and finally ask out the woman of his dreams. But first he wanted to tell Laura of his plans so that she could be prepared…just in case. He quickly showered and dressed and walked towards her quarters. As he neared her quarters her realised that there were two marines blocking the hallway.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"We're here under Colonel Sheppard's orders. You are to go to the infirmary." Replied the marine. Confused Lorne said, "Why do I have to go to the infirmary?" he asked the marine. In answer the marine stepped aside and Lorne paled at the sight of the blood. Turning on his heel he ran to the infirmary.

He burst into the infirmary just as Beckett came out of the doors leading to the isolation rooms.

"What the hell happened?" he demanded. John nearly fell out of his seat in surprise at all of the commotion. Rodney merely looked up from his bloodied hands and waited for Beckett to speak. Before he could John said, "How is she doc?" Beckett took a deep breath and said, "Well from the top. She's got a couple of nasty head wounds, which is where all the blood came from, she'll have a nasty concussion when she wakes up. Moving down her right shoulder was dislocated and her right arm was broken. She's got two broken ribs and three cracked ones. Her left knee is also dislocated. I've put everything back in place and set her right arm in a cast. But that's not what is worrying me." The three men stared in disbelief at Beckett.

"There's worse?" asked Rodney. It was the first time he had spoken in hours.

"Aye. There are no defensive wounds."

"You've got to be kidding right?" Lorne sounded dumbfounded by this statement.

"She can nearly take Ronan and Teyla on a good day. If she was tired she could probably take both and win. How has she got no defensive wounds?" asked John in shock.

"She was stunned before she was beaten up. I ran her blood work twice to make sure. The electrolytes in her blood were imbalanced. Indicative of being stunned." No one spoke after this comment. Beckett finally broke the silence.

"Colonel if you don't mind I'd like two marines stationed outside those doors" he pointed to the doors leading to the isolation room "and two outside the infirmary doors. With expressed orders that no one is allowed in here without my expressed permission." The look of shock on John's face was new. He had never been asked by the doctor to have a security detail outside the infirmary much less inside it.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because whoever did this could try again." Sheppard nodded and tapped his earpiece to get the men to the infirmary.

"Doc can I stay with her?" asked Lorne.

"Aye lad. I've already set up the bed." Beckett walked away and Lorne nodded to Sheppard and walked into the isolation room.

A/N: I don't actually know if there are any electrolytes in the blood. I just made it up.


	22. Teyla admits it

Lorne had been sitting there for most of the day. Laura looked fragile and weak, two things that he knew she wasn't. He had asked Sheppard to take him off rotation for a while. He wanted to make sure that whoever had done this to Laura was caught before he went offworld again. Carson was checking on her every couple of hours just to be on the safe side. He had been sitting there for around 9 hours without moving when he heard shouting outside the infirmary. Two people were really going at it. As he stood up he could distinctly hear a high-pitched female voice and an angry Scottish one.

"I demand to know if he's here!" screamed the woman.

"I said no! No-one is allowed in here unless it's a medical emergency!" Carson shouted back. His accent was getting thicker which meant he was getting more agitated. Sighing Lorne stood up and walked out of the isolation room. "What's going on?" he asked as he rounded the corner. He froze.

"How long have you been here?" the woman demanded. Lorne rolled his eyes. He was well and truly sick of this. "Listen Kate. Its over."

"But I love you. How can you abandon the woman you love?" Lorne scoffed at her and said, "I'm not abandoning the woman I love. The woman I love is lying in the isolation room completely beaten to hell. I never loved you." Heightmeyer's features contorted even more, "You'll both regret this. I promise you that." She spat at him and stormed off. Lorne turned to Beckett and said, "Wow. That was different."

"Aye. That it was. What do you think she'll do?" Lorne shrugged his shoulders.

"I doubt she'll do anything to be honest."

"You ever hear the saying 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'?" Lorne chuckled slightly before replying, "Yeah I have. But I'm not worried doc. She has me, you, Sheppard, Ronan, Teyla and even McKay looking out for her. She's probably the safest person on Atlantis."

"Aye, your probably right." Lorne smiled at him and walked back into the isolation room and dropped into the chair next to Laura's bed. A couple of hours later Teyla came in.

"Hey Teyla. Everything ok?" asked Lorne.

"Everything is fine. I'm here to relieve you so that you can eat."

"But…I'm…" he stopped when he saw the look on Teyla's face. "Ok. I'm going. See you in a couple of hours?" Teyla bowed her head in answer and Lorne walked towards the doors.

"Will you…"

"I will radio you if there is any change. You have my word." She smiled at him kindly. A couple of minutes later he was gone.

I looked around. I was in my quarters but I couldn't remember ever getting there. I sat up in bed and realised I was slightly stiff as if I'd been fighting non-stop for hours. Groaning I walked into my bathroom and showered quickly. I was just about dressed when I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in." I called. I looked up and saw Teyla. She looked pensive. Worried I asked, "Are you ok?" The small Athosian shook her head sadly.

"Truthfully. No. I am very confused."

"What's wrong? You can tell me. I won't say tell anyone." I said. I decided to wait. She would tell me when she's ready I thought to myself. Teyla took a few minutes to gather her thoughts and then she took a few deep breaths.

"It is John…and my feelings for him. I feel very deeply for him but he suddenly seems distant. He won't talk to me. I want to tell him how I feel but I am afraid that he does not feel the same way. I have never felt this way about anyone before. I…I'm…afraid that he will reject me." She said sadly. As I listened I had smiled but when she said she was afraid my smile dropped. I had never known Teyla to admit fear before. I looked at her for a couple of minutes before saying, "Teyla you have nothing to be afraid of. John feels the same way about you. In fact I would say that he loves you. He's just completely oblivious to it at the moment." I stopped when I saw her look of confusion "Most men from my planet like to think they know everything about women. Believe me they don't. Most of them don't know that they are in love unless it's pointed out to them. So this means that John hasn't realised he's in love with you unless someone points it out to him. You know what I mean?" I asked her. Before she could reply Teyla disappeared. Surprised I walked towards my door and opened it. Peering out I noticed that Atlantis was never quiet unless…crap. _What's happened now?_ I wondered. Atlantis was only completely quiet when I was dreaming.

Lorne walked back into the infirmary to relieve Teyla. "Thanks Teyla."

"Your welcome."

"Are you ok?" he asked her worriedly. Confusion was etched on her features.

"I am fine. Just tired. Good night colonel." She smiled at him and left before he could reply. Frowning slightly Lorne walked over to his bed and lay down. He stretched his hand out to hold Laura's and he soon fell asleep.

He was soon walking down the corridors of Atlantis towards Laura's quarters. He had visited here every night but she had been sleeping. He approached the door and let himself in. He gasped in surprise. Laura was pacing her bedroom floor. Turning to face him, she smiled at him and said, "Evan!" she ran up to him and hugged him tightly.

"Uh…hi! Are you ok?" he asked her.

"Little stiff actually. What the hell happened now?" seeing his confused expression she said, "I'm dreaming. And so are you. That's why its so quiet." She elaborated.

"Ah. What's the last thing you remember?"

"Erm…I walked out of the mess hall after I said bye to Daniel and co. That's it I think. Why?"

"Well that was 6 weeks ago. You were beaten up…badly. You've been in a coma ever since."

"Oh. Was Teyla just visiting?" confused Lorne said, "Yeah. Why?"

"I just had a conversation with her. Well…she was talking to me and I answered. Well in here I answered she obviously didn't know I did." Lorne just looked at her, "What?"

"My god I've missed you. You need to come back to the land of the living soon. We all miss you…even McKay misses you." Laura looked shocked at this revelation.

"Really? Why would McKay miss me? He's in love with Weir? But…" she trailed off and looked confused. She looked at Lorne and he too looked confused.

"How did you know that?" he asked her.

"I'm not sure. He found me didn't he?"

"Yeah he did." Lorne was now very freaked out. Laura tipped her head to the side and smiled mischievously, "So how did the shrink take the news? Oh and how long have you been in love with me?" she asked, her eyes sparkling. Lorne dropped his mouth in surprise before he replied, "Not well. She threatened revenge. And uh…since the first time we met on the _Daedalus_." He flushed slightly. She smiled at him and started to kiss him passionately. They were both gasping for air five minutes later, when she pulled away and said, "I have to know something. Did you and the shrink…you know…sleep together?" she asked her face going bright red. Lorne chuckled before replying, "No." Laura smiled at him. Within moments their clothes were on the floor and their hands all over each other.

Beckett came running into the room. Laura's heart rate had increased suddenly. The first thing he noticed was that both Laura and Lorne were smiling, the second thing he noticed was that Laura was gripping Lorne's hand, their fingers interlaced, every now and then gripping harder as her body arched up. Beckett shook his head as Laura's heart rate went back to normal and he thought to himself, _I really don't wanna know what that was about._ He smiled slightly having a pretty good idea of what he had accidentally witnessed.


	23. Attempted

Laura woke up and sighed contentedly. An arm had wrapped around her waist while her head was lying on the other using it as a pillow. The lower half of the arm was also holding her. Smiling she turned and looked at the man who was holding her. Her smile widened as she studied Evan Lorne as he slept. His face was relaxed and at ease. It almost took on a child-like innocence when he slept. She leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips, which caused him to smile slightly, and she untangled herself from his embrace. Although she didn't want to move, once she was awake she had too. It was a new, annoying habit that she had picked up since moving to Atlantis. Lorne groaned slightly when she got out of bed. As she neared her bathroom door she turned and looked at him one more time before going for a shower. Twenty minutes later she re-emerged expecting to see Lorne awake and expecting to see her. What she saw caused her smile to falter slightly he had disappeared. Walking over to the bed she got back in, wet towels and all, and pulled the pillow that Lorne had been using closer to her. She smiled again and was soon asleep.

Lorne sat up and said groggily, "What's going on? I was having the nicest dream."

"Aye I know." Carson replied smiling. Lorne flushed and didn't say anything. "We're going to wake her up. Her EEG has altered. She's no longer in a coma, she's just sleeping now."

"Are we absolutely sure we want to wake her up? Can't we just wait until she wants to wake up?" asked Rodney worriedly.

"Aye I want to wake her up. She's been asleep for 6 weeks. What could she possibly be annoyed about?" asked Beckett. While they had been talking Lorne had been watching Laura sleep when she had frowned. Beckett went to the side of the bed and said, "Laura? I know you can hear me. I want you to wake up now." Laura didn't move but her frown deepened. Sighing Beckett tried again, "Laura. Wake up!" he said a little louder. Laura moved down the bed slightly and Beckett turned to John, McKay and Lorne, "Do one of you wanna try?"

"Hell no!" said John and Lorne together. They looked at McKay expectantly. Sighing loudly he said, "Fine. But I want hazard pay for this." He walked over to the bed and took a deep breath. "Laura? We really need to talk to you. So come on already and wake up." Laura sighed loudly and muttered, "Go away. I'm sleeping." She rolled over as well as pulling the sheet over her head. In the process of doing this she rived her left knee and right shoulder. As the pain shot through her body, she let out an ear-piercing scream of agony. Now she was definitely awake. She sat up and snapped her eyes open.

"Jesus fucking Christ! Ow!"

"It's alright. Take it easy. I'll give you something for the pain." Beckett said and hurried off for pain reliever. She looked around and fell back onto her pillows.

"What the fuck…? Someone wanna tell me what I've done to deserve all this pain?" she demanded. They were all staring at her in shock. None of them had heard her swear twice in the space of two minutes before. Lorne had only heard her swear once before.

"Maybe we shouldn't have woke you up…" Sheppard stated and trailed off when he saw the look that Laura was sending him.

"Ya think?" she said sarcastically. She let out a groan as Beckett came back and pumped her full of drugs to ease the pain. She closed her eyes and after a couple of minutes she opened them again.

"Well?" she asked. They all looked confused.

"Well what?" asked McKay. Laura scowled and said, "Why they hell did you wake me up for?" They all started shuffling their feet uncomfortably. She rolled her eyes and said, "Never mind. John please tell me you've caught the twat who done this to me." She looked at him. He shook his head.

"Well that's why we've woken you up. We're hoping that whoever did it will try again…when they find out that you're awake." Laura rounded on Lorne and demanded, "Why didn't you say something?"

"Erm…because…because…" he stuttered.

"Because…" she said.

"Because I didn't want you to agree. That's why. I didn't actually think they would wake you up to ask." Laura smiled at him and turned to the others and said, "What do I have to do?"

An elaborate plan had been thought up while she had been sleeping. A member of Sheppard's team was going to end up in the infirmary for as long as it took for the person to try again. This meant that someone was close by in case they were needed. When Lorne had said, "Why can't I stay?" the reply was that he would be too obvious.

"Besides you'll know before we do because of that freaky connection thing you have." Sheppard had said. Also a big vase had been put on the little table so that it could either be used for a weapon or an alarm. Lorne had reluctantly agreed. The following day it was to be enacted.

Laura was completely bored out of her brain when there was a sudden commotion coming into the infirmary. A stretcher was wheeled in and Ronan, Teyla and Sheppard were running behind it. They looked terrible. Laura also noticed that John and Teyla were very uncomfortable and once her post-mission check-up was complete by Dr Biro she practically ran from the infirmary. _What the hell was all that about?_ She wondered. Laura turned her attention back to the commotion. Noticing that John was heading out of the infirmary after his check-up Laura called out, "John!" Hearing his name he turned around and Laura beckoned him over.

"What happened?" she asked worriedly.

"We were ambushed and Rodney was shot." Seeing her look of concern he added, "He's going to be fine. But he's now your bodyguard. Do you feel safer?" he asked chuckling.

"Yes actually. He's saved my life before. It just means I owe him two instead of one." She laughed at his expression. "What can I expect when he wakes up?" John looked thoughtful for a minute before replying, "Imagine you without sleep for a week and times it by 100."

"So he'll be his usual charming self then?" she asked laughing again.

"Rather you having him for a while than me." He said chuckling. "Listen I gotta go brief Weir. See you later." He smiled his lop-sided grin and left. _Well that wasn't strange at all. Something is definitely up with him and Teyla._ She thought to herself again.

Laura was sleeping when McKay was rolled out of surgery.

"How can she possibly be tired?" asked an astounded McKay groggily.

"Well there's not much else she can do. Now are you in any real pain?" replied Beckett.

"Nothing a shot of morphine won't cure." McKay said. As he was pushed past Laura's bed he grabbed her right foot and pulled. Laura sat up in shock.

"What the hell?" she asked thickly. She turned to find McKay smiling at her from the bed next to hers.

"If I have to be awake then so do you." He said. Beckett shook his head and left them to it.

"Why do I have to be awake for? You do realise you can talk to me when…" she trailed off realising what she was saying.

"When what?"

"When I wake up of my own accord. Why did you wake me up anyway?"

"I don't wanna be lonely. What do you wanna talk about?" he asked her. Seeing her opportunity she said, "How about you and Elizabeth? Have you told her how you feel? What did she say? Come on! I want details, and he didn't lie or I will keep you awake!" McKay took a deep breath before replying, "You know I would have thought that you would want to know about John and Teyla first. But to answer your questions. Yes I told her, not long after I found you actually. I could only imagine what Lorne's been going through so I decided to tell her because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to and you made me realise that. In answer to your second question she said she felt the same way but didn't want to because she's leader of the expedition and all that crap. That was around 7 weeks ago. I honestly don't know what to do. I mean should I move on or what?" he asked sadly. Laura just looked at him. She didn't know what to say. This was another thing that McKay wasn't know for: spilling his heart out.

"I really don't know Rodney. I wish I knew what to say to make it easier but I just don't have them. I'm sorry. The only thing I would suggest is give her time to realise what she's missing. Before we go any further I haven't thanked you for saving my life. So thank you and if there's anything I can do for you, all you have to do is ask. Ok?" she smiled at him warmly. He flushed slightly before replying, "Ok. Have you noticed the tension between John and Teyla?" he asked changing the subject.

"Yeah I have. He gave me his Teyla smile before. Kinda freaked me out. What's happened?"

"Erm Teyla smile?" he asked confused.

"Yeah that lop-sided grin he only gives Teyla."

"Oh yes…yes. I know which one you mean. Huh. Now that you've said that I'm gonna really notice it. However all they've done recently is scowl at each other and then Teyla practically runs away. It's very strange. And it's affecting the team. I'm surprised Elizabeth hasn't said anything to us about it yet. Hm."

"I noticed. She practically ran out of here before. Do you know what's happened? What do you think has happened?" she quizzed him.

"I have no idea but we have to find out and try and fix it." Laura looked at him in surprise. Seeing the look he said, "What? I do care you know. He…he's one of my closest friends and so is she. They're only happy when they're together. It's really quite sickening when you think about it. Anyways I'm tired now. Good night." He rolled over and went to sleep. Laura chuckled slightly and said, "Good night Rodney."

A week later Laura was lying on Lorne's chest when she said, "How would you feel if I wanted to go offworld every now and then when I'm all fixed and what not?" she asked. He looked at her and said, "Well I wouldn't be too thrilled about it but I wouldn't stop you. Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh you know. Just curious." She shrugged her shoulders. Suddenly her features contorted in horror. She started to hold her throat while gasping, "Evan. I…can't…breath…help…me." Then she disappeared. Lorne sat up in bed and reached for his radio as Dr Beckett's voice said, "Lorne to the infirmary."

A lone figure was standing over Laura's bed with an evil smile across its face. It quietly walked over to the unoccupied bed and lifted up a pillow. Silently walking back to Laura's bed the figure placed the pillow over her face. Almost instantly Laura started to struggle, she frantically tossed her head to the side and clawing at the hands that were holding the pillow. The hands remained firm. Suddenly Laura knocked over a big, glass vase that shattered on the ground waking up McKay and Dr Beckett who was in his office. Instantly Beckett radioed for Lorne while McKay radioed for Sheppard, Ronan and Teyla. He sat up n his bed pulled out his 9 mil from his bedside cabinet and yelled, "FREEZE!" This had no affect on Laura's attacker. Suddenly four people came running into the infirmary and within seconds Ronan had Laura's attacker up against the wall. Beckett came hurrying in with an oxygen mask while Lorne held her hand. Laura hadn't been rendered unconscious but she was close by the time everyone had come to her rescue.

Laura looked at her attacker and said, "I should have known. Only you're stupid enough to try and kill me twice." She said disgusted.

"I want my revenge! You stole him away from me!" screamed Heightmeyer.

"Well I think you need a room with padded wallpaper! Luckily for me, my wish will soon come true." Seeing that she as ok. Sheppard turned to Ronan and said, "Take her to the brig. She'll be going to Earth on the next _Daedalus_ trip." He looked at the group and smiled. he followed Ronan and the screaming Heightmeyer out of the infirmary. Beckett turned to Laura and said, "How are you feeling love?"

"Ready to get out of here. When can I leave?" she asked.

"Tomorrow if you're up to it. But I want to keep you here tonight just to make sure everything is ok. You realise you're going to be on crutches and in physio for a little while right?"

"Yeah doc. I figured as much. Well good night everyone. The sooner I get back to sleep the sooner I can get out of here." They all smiled at her as she got comfy and went back to sleep. Lorne settled into the chair and also went to sleep. Teyla bowed her head to Beckett and Rodney and left the infirmary. McKay turned over and also went back to sleep. Beckett checked her vitals one more time and then went back to his office. Things could now get back to normal.


	24. Lady in red

It had almost been 2 months since Laura was released from the infirmary. She could now walk without the crutches but she still had a bit of a limp. Lots of things had changed in that time. Teyla and John were now practically joint at the hip, they had obviously worked through their issues, but at least they were happy and Laura and Lorne were also together. They were taking it one step at a time. They were in the mess hall with Teyla, John, McKay and Ronan when Elizabeth's voice came over the citywide.

"Ladies and gentlemen. I have just been informed that the president of the United States will be coming to Atlantis for a little visit. I have also been told that we are going to be holding a ball in his honour on Valentines Day. That's all. Weir out." Laura groaned out loud.

"What's the matter?" asked Lorne.

"Oh nothing. Its just that I hate Valentines Day with a firey passion and the one dress that I would call nice was put in the bin when that bitch beat me up. So you know." She replied.

"So why do you hate valentines day?" asked McKay. Laura shrugged.

"No idea. Always have…even if I was with someone. Its all pink and flowery." She made a disgusted face and Lorne started laughing. "What you laughing at?" she asked him.

"Oh nothing. I just remember the last time you said you hated pink. So why don't you like flowers?" he said. She scowled at him before replying, "Well real flowers tend to set my allergies off. They ain't bad or anything. My eyes just look like I've been crying for hours on end. Real ones in my hair don't bother me. But fake flowers are the way to go. They last forever." She said laughing. They chatted for a little while longer when she said, "Well I'd better go to physio. My therapist tends to get cranky if I'm even a second late. See you later." She got up and kissed Lorne and headed out of the mess hall. Teyla and Ronan also left for a sparring session. McKay said something about his lab and all the important work he should be doing. He too then left. John looked around the room and then leaned closer to Lorne as if they were in cahoots. He then whispered, "I'm thinking of asking Teyla to marry me. What do you think?" Lorne leaned back for a moment and thought about what John had just told him. Lorne leaned back in and said, "I think it's a brilliant idea. When you gonna ask her?"

"Well now that we're having that ball thing for the president I might ask her that night. What do you think?"

"Brilliant idea. Now I think I've got a sort of plan for then as well. Don't worry I'm not gonna rain on your parade. I think I'm gonna surprise Laura. She needs to see that Valentines Day isn't as bad as she thinks it is. So I'm gonna buy her a dress and shoes and stuff. What do you think?"

"I think it's a good idea as well. But how are you gonna find out her shoe size? I mean dress size should be easy enough. Then there's the slight hiccup of how your gonna get it here without her being suspicious. You know what she's like."

"Yeah I know. That's were I'm gonna need you and Teyla. See I'm hoping that Teyla will be able to keep her busy while I put it in her room the night of the ball. When is the _Daedalus_ next off to earth?"

"Well it goes the day after tomorrow. So you could theoretically put an order in and it would get here in time for the ball. I'm assuming the _Daedalus_ is bringing the president. So it would be Air Force One for a little while. Any idea about what style of dress you want? Coz someone has been giving Teyla some magazines if you wanna look at em." John said.

"Yeah if you wouldn't mind. But best not be too obvious about it. What about you? How are you gonna find out Teyla's ring size? Not to mention how are you gonna pick the ring?" asked Lorne.

"I'm just gonna guess at the ring size and if its too big or too small then we can change it for the right size later. Getting the actual ring isn't going to be a problem. I'm goin back to earth next week. Just a quick stop." Lorne was just about to say something when his radio buzzed. "Lorne?"

"Yeah?"

"Its Elizabeth could you come to the control room a second?"

"Yeah on my way." Lorne stood up and said, "Elizabeth needs me for some reason. See you later sir." He smiled and left the mess hall.

It was nearing Valentines Day and John was getting more and more nervous. It was taking all of Lorne's patience to calm John down. He had never seen his CO so nervous before and it was starting to make him nervous as well. When Valentines Day approached John and Lorne were bumbling wreaks. They were both in their dress blues and were obviously very uncomfortable in them. Lorne was shaking the president's hand when she said; _I think you look gorgeous in your uniform! In fact I can't wait till I can rip it off._ Lorne visibly blushed and fumbled. Laura had hit her mark and she smiled mischievously. Once introductions were made Laura and Teyla went to spar. Once they had gone Lorne hurried to the _Daedalus_ and picked up his packages. He swiftly walked to Laura's room and put them on her bed.

Laura and Teyla had been sparring for a couple of hours when Laura said, "When are you going to get dressed?"

"Oh yes. I'd best go. Are you coming?"

"No. I'm going to stay here for a while. But thanks for training with me." Laura said with a smile.

"Are you not going to the ball? Your president seemed insistent that everyone be there." Teyla said. Laura shook her head. "No. I've got nothing to wear.2 Laura turned to see Teyla smile mischievously. "What?" Laura asked suspiciously. Teyla put on her best innocent face before replying, "I do not understand."

"You know something."

"I do not. I had better leave to be ready in time." She said and bowed her head and left the gym before Laura could say another word. Laura frowned and headed for her own quarters.

Laura walked into her room and threw her gym bag on the floor and headed to her bathroom for a shower when something caught her eye. Turning she saw there four packages on her bed. Walking over to them she saw there was a note on a long, thin package. She opened it and smiled. She read:

_Laura, _

_Please be my valentine and do me the honour of being my partner to the ball. Inside is something that will last forever. Just like us._

_Love you lots_

_Evan_

_xxxxx_

_P.S. I will pick you up at 8._

_xxxxx_

Laura smiled and opened the thin box. Out fell a single red rose. She went to smell it when she realised that it was a fake one and her smile broadened. Moving to the next two smaller packages, she picked the one on the left and opened the lid. Confused she pulled out a pair of red strappy sandals with a medium heel. Puzzled even more she moved over to the other smaller box and opened the lid. Inside was the same pair of red strappy sandals. _Why are there two pairs of the same shoe?_ She thought curiously. On a whim she checked the sizes. The pair on the left were a size 7 and the pair on the right were a size 8. She smiled again and moved the boxes off the bigger box. She opened the box and gasped in surprise. Inside was the most beautiful red dress she had ever seen and another note.

A beautiful dress for a beautiful lady. See you at 8 xxxxx 

Laura pulled the dress out of the box and looked at it. It was a plain red halter neck dress. The right side was shorter on the leg and it gathered into a V shape on the left hand side so that it would completely cover her left leg. She looked at the back and saw that it was also low-backed. After admiring it from all angles for five minutes, she quickly checked her watch. It was already half past 7. She placed the dress on her bed and hurriedly showered. Stepping out twenty minutes later, she quickly dried herself and started to do her hair. She pulled it up so that she could put the rose in her hair, she would put it in at the last minute. Then she stepped into the dress. She looked at her reflection in her full-length mirror. Even she would admit that she looked stunning. She had tied a double knot at the back of her neck just in case but the ties still fell right down her back. She then walked back over to her bed and pulled the left size 7 and the right size 8 to see which pair would fit her better. Deciding that the eights would fit her better she swapped the left size 7 for the left size 8 sandal. She had just finished putting the other shoe on when there was a knock on her door. Smiling she thought _right on time_. Out loud she said, "Just a second!" She picked up the rose and securely placed it in her hair. Walking to her door she took a deep breath and opened it. She smiled at Lorne, who was still in his dress blues, he had changed after the president had dismissed them and then put them back on for the ball. He stood and stared at her for a full five minutes before he said, "Wow. You look beautiful." Smiling she said to him, "Thank you very much. For all of this. This is without a doubt the best Valentines Day I've ever had." His grin broadened as he held out his arm. Threading her arm through his she took a deep breath and said, "Ready?"

"Yeah. Lets go."

As they entered the mess hall everyone turned to stare. Noticing this Laura whispered, "Evan. What's everyone staring at?"

"That would be you. Come on lets go and join the others." Walking over to the others Laura noticed that John seemed to be really jittery. Turning to Lorne she said, "Is John ok?" Laughing he replied, "Yeah. He will be." She waited for him to elaborate and when he didn't she just smiled at the group when they joined them. Looking around she noticed that Teyla was wearing a simple pale blue dress that accentuated her figure and he hair was falling across her shoulders in soft waves. Both Rodney and Carson had a suit and tie on and both appeared to be dateless. Turning to Carson she asked, "Where's Laura? I thought she would be coming back today?"

"Aye she was but her appendix had other ideas." He said chuckling slightly. Unconsciously Laura rubbed her own stomach along her own appendix scar. This didn't go unnoticed by Carson. "When did you get yours out?" he asked.

"What?" she asked startled.

"Your appendix? When did you get them out?" seeing her confused look he said, "You were running your finger across your scar."

"Oh. Hadn't even realised I was doing that. I was 18. I was in complete agony for three days before I realised there was summit up. I'm lucky to be alive."

"How so?" asked Carson. His curiosity was piqued.

"They were gangrenous. Don't worry Laura will be fine." Laura said smiling. She turned to Elizabeth who had just arrived. She was wearing a dark green dress that highlighted her eyes. Just then the music started and some people were already dancing. Laura heard John say, "Teyla. Can I talk to you outside a second please?"

"Certainly John." Laura turned to Lorne and thought, _he's asking her to marry him. Isn't he?_ Lorne's expression was enough. _How did you know that?_

_Intuition._ Laura smiled broadly but didn't say anything out loud. Rodney cleared his throat loudly and said, "Laura may I have this dance?" Laura looked at Lorne and he nodded. "Yes you may Rodney." She took his outstretched hand and they walked to the dance floor.

Outside, John could barely keep his nervousness under control. Teyla picked up on this and placed a delicate hand on his shoulder. He pulled his gaze away from the ocean and turned to look at her.

"Are you alright John?" she asked him concerned.

"I will be." He took a deep breath and continued "Teyla. I want you to know that I've loved you since the first time I saw you back on your original home world. I know we haven't been dating that long but I can't imagine my life without you." He lowered himself onto one knee and pulled out a small velvet box and opened it. Her eyes went wide in surprise. John took another deep breath and said, "Teyla. Will you marry me?" Teyla's hands flew to her mouth in surprise and were quickly dropped as she said, "Yes John. I would love to marry you." He stood up and they kissed passionately. Breaking apart John slipped the ring on her finger. It was the perfect size. Teyla looked at it for a long time just smiling. Grabbing her hand he said, "Come on. Lets go and tell the others." They walked back in to the mess hall and headed for the group. John said, "Everyone. We have an announcement to make. Teyla? Do you want to tell them?"

"Yes. Ok. We're engaged." She smiled proudly as everyone offered their congratulations and looking at her ring. Lorne and John shook hands and Lorne said, "Feel better? You are one lucky man." Before replying John looked at Laura who was admiring Teyla's ring and said, "Yeah I feel loads better and we're both lucky." Lorne turned and also looked at Laura and Teyla. "Yeah we are." He said smiling.


	25. Amelia

When Keras from M7G-677 had dialled in with his monthly report and told Dr Weir that some of the younger children had found some ancient ruins if someone wanted to come and have a look. Laura saw her opportunity to go offworld. That had been four months ago. She had only visited the planet a few times during that time because her translation skills were needed on Atlantis. Laura didn't mind because it meant she could go offworld. This particular planet also kept Lorne happy because of their shield.

Laura and Beckett walked through the gate on M7G-677. Keras had dialled in asked from some medical help. He thought there was some epidemic of some sort so Beckett had offered to investigate. Elizabeth had told him to go in HAZMAT just in case. Laura decided to go and look at the ruins. When they got to the other side Laura smiled at her little tour guide Amelia.

"Hello again Miss Laura." Amelia suddenly jumped back in surprise when she saw Beckett.

"It's ok. Its just Dr Beckett. He's come to look after the sick. Are you ok?" she asked the little girl. Amelia was 5 or 6 years old with blonde hair and the palest blue eyes Laura had ever seen. She would never admit it to anyone but she had grown quite fond of the little girl.

"Yes Miss Laura. I feel fine. Should we go now?"

"Yeah. Lets go." Laura replied holding out her hand to the little girl. Taking it Amelia began leading Laura to the ruins. Beckett headed to the village with a young boy whose name Laura hadn't caught.

Once at the ruins Laura sat down and started translating them while Amelia went and played. She had been working for around an hour when the ground started to shake. Surprised Laura just sat where she was when she heard a high-pitched scream. _Amelia!_ She thought. Standing up as best as she could she walked in the general direction of the scream. She was calling for Amelia when the ground stopped shaking.

"Amelia! Can you hear me? Amelia!" Laura called and then strained her ears so that she could hear Amelia.

"Miss Laura! I'm down here!"

"Amelia sweetie. I want you to make as much noise as possible until I find you ok?" she called again.

"Ok. Miss Laura! Miss Laura!" Amelia called again and again. It didn't take long for Laura to find Amelia. When the earthquake had started the ground had given way and she had fallen five feet.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"My wrist hurts. Can you get me out?" Amelia asked her.

"No. But I'm coming down to try and sort you out. Hang on." Laura took a deep breath and jumped into the hole. When she landed she heard a sickening crack and then felt chronic pain in her left knee and ankle. She let her breath out in a hiss. She took a steadying breath to stop the urge to throw up. She turned to Amelia, "Come here and let me have a look at your arm." Amelia walked over to her and sat down beside Laura. Amelia held out her right hand and Laura inspected it. Ignoring the pain in her leg Laura said, "Ok. I think your wrist is broken. It can be fixed. But first I'm gonna have to strap it up and then Dr Beckett can fix it. Ok sweetie?" she asked the girl softly. Then an idea struck her. Opening the pocket of her tack vest with her I-pod in it she pulled out the little machine and handed it to the little girl. Amelia looked at it blankly and Laura turned it on and flicked through the playlists to the Disney songs and put the headphones in her ears. Amelia smiled and listened to the music while Laura strapped her arm. When she was done she made a makeshift sling with another bandage and placed it over Amelia's head and gently put her wrist through it. Smiling at Amelia she said, "That feel better?" Amelia nodded. Noticing that the little girl was shivering, she took off her tack vest and placed it on Amelia. It wouldn't warm her up very much but it would at least offer some protection against the damp and her arm. All they had to do now was wait for Beckett to realise something was wrong.

Once at the village Beckett began running tests on the sick children. He quickly discovered that it was the Pegasus version of the chicken pox. Feeling safe, as he had already had the chicken pox he took off his HAZMAT suit. He was busily starting to get the children comfortable when the ground started to shake. Once it had stopped Beckett made sure that all the children were ok and then asked, "Does anyone know where the ruins are?"

"I do." Replied a small boy. Beckett leaned down and said softly, "What's your name?"

"Apollo mister." Replied the boy in fright. Beckett smiled and said, "Well Apollo. Would you mind showing me where they are?" Apollo shook his head and stood up. Grabbing Beckett's hand he started to pull him out of the village. Beckett soon realised that he probably could have found the ruins by himself, as they weren't that far away from the village. He walked up to the ruins and noticed that Laura's computer was there and it looked relatively undamaged but Laura was nowhere in sight.

"Laura!" he called. When there was no reply he reached for his radio and then remembered that they didn't work on this planet. "Damn it." He muttered to himself. He looked around again and realised that Apollo had also disappeared. He looked around and inside the ruins one more time and picked up Laura's computer when he heard, "Mister. Mister. You have to come quick. I think I found your friend."

"Lead the way." Beckett followed the little boy for around 10 minutes; if he hadn't been watching what he was doing he would have fallen in the hole.

"Careful doc." Laura called from inside the hole.

"Laura lass. How did you get down there?" he asked her.

"I was looking for Amelia when the quake hit. We both fell in."

"Ah I see. How is she?"

"Broken wrist I think and I also think she's going into shock. She's shivering like mad. Could I recommend an extended stay in the infirmary for both of us?" Laura asked chuckling.

"Both of you? What's happened to you?" he asked her.

"Left leg is all to hell. I'm seeing double and everything." Beckett was about to reply when the ground started to shake again. Laura quickly pulled Amelia over her legs and covered her head with the top half of her body when a loose stone knocked her on the head.

"Laura?" called Beckett once the tremor had gone. Amelia looked up in fright.

"Mister. Her eyes are closed. What's wrong with Miss Laura?" she asked worriedly.

"Oh no." Beckett muttered, a little louder he said, "Don't worry wee lass. I'm going to go and get help. You just stay put ok?"

"Ok mister." Beckett hurried off towards the gate with Apollo following closely behind. He quickly dialled Atlantis and clicked on his radio, "Atlantis?"

"Go ahead Carson." Replied Elizabeth, she was just about to dial M7G-677 as they had missed their check-in. "What's wrong?"

"_I need a stretcher and a small med team straight away_."

"What's happened?" asked Elizabeth worriedly.

"_There was an earthquake and Laura is stuck down a five foot hole. Her legs in a bad way from what she told me. A tremor hit around five minutes ago and it loosened some stones. One of which has hit her on the head. She's now unconscious as far as I can tell. There's also a little girl with a broken wrist down there with her. She could be going into shock. Once they are rescued I'm bringing the little girl to Atlantis. Is that ok? I may also need colonel Sheppard's team to help getting them out_."

"Ok. Everything is getting ready as we speak. They will be there in a few minutes. Does the child pose any threat to Atlantis?"

"_No. Unless you haven't had the chicken pox. But she doesn't appear to have it. So that's a no._" replied Beckett.

"Ok. See you soon."

"_Aye._" That said and the gate shut down.

Beckett was waiting for his med team and Sheppard when the gate activated. Sitting behind the DHD just in case it was an unexpected visitor.

"Carson?" asked Sheppard. Standing up Beckett smiled at the teams and said, "This way." He led them to the hole and called down to Amelia, "Are you ok lass?"

"Yes mister."

"How's Laura?"

"She's still sleeping." Amelia replied.

"Ok love. We're coming down to get you." Beckett saw Amelia nod and then pulled his head away from the hole. "Ok. Who's going down?" he asked Sheppard.

"I will." Sheppard replied. "What's her name?" Beckett looked thoughtful for a second and said, "I missed it when Laura was talking to her before. Sorry colonel."

"Don't worry about it. Alright lets get this rope set up. I'll get the little girl then I'll go back down and get Turner. Lorne is not gonna be happy about this." Sheppard muttered just loud enough so that his team could hear him. They smiled at him and got to work on the rope. Tying it around his waist Sheppard lowered himself over the edge and went down the hole. Once landing he smiled at the little girl who tried to run away from him in fright. He up his hands and said, "Its ok. I'm a friend of Lauras'. I'm John. What's your name little one?"

"Amelia." She replied.

"Alright Amelia. Now I need you to hold on to me while the others pull us out. Is that ok for you?" he asked kindly.

"Others?"

"Yeah. They are also friends of Laura. We won't harm you. I promise." John said.

"What about Miss Laura?"

"Don't worry we'll get her out as soon as you're out. We can only lift one of you at a time. You can watch if you want?"

"O…o…ok." Amelia stammered. Amelia walked over to John and he picked her up in one swift movement. She put her arm around his neck with her good arm while John tugged on the rope signalling the others to start lifting him. He put his feet against the wall to help them with the pulling. Once they were out Beckett came over and inspected Amelia's arm. "Well Laura's done a good job of that until we get to Atlantis at least. What's your name wee one?" Amelia looked at John and he nodded. "Amelia."

"Ok Amelia I want you to go and sit next Rodney until we get Laura out ok?" Amelia looked around but couldn't see anyone sitting down. Instead she saw Ronan and uttered a tiny shriek and hid behind John's legs. John laughed slightly and said, "Its ok Amelia. He won't hurt you. McKay! Show yourself so she can see you." He called to Rodney. McKay stood up from where he had parked himself and walked around Ronan. John pointed to him and said to Amelia, "That's Rodney. He's a little bit grumpy but he won't hurt you either."

"You…you…promwise?" she asked.

"Yeah I promise." John walked her over to McKay and said quietly, "Be nice."

"Yes colonel." McKay bit back. Sheppard walked back to the hole and again lowered himself down. This time a stretcher had also been lowered down before he went down.

Rodney kneeled in front of the little girl and smiled at her. She looked like she was about to cry when he looked at her arm.

"Is your arm hurting?" he asked her. Wide eyes greeted him and she nodded. "What's your name?"

"Amelia. What's yours?"

"Rodney McKay. But you can call me Rodney if you want." Amelia was still looking at him, which was making him nervous. But she seemed to be fascinated by him.

"What do you do?" she asked him. Taken aback Rodney said, "What do you mean? What do I do?"

"Well Miss Laura can speak many languages which is why she likes the ruins. What can you do?" she asked innocently.

"I'm a scientist."

"What's a one of them?"

"Well…" Rodney began trying to think of a simple way to explain it. "Well a scientist studies science."

"What's science?"

"Well science is a general term for lots of things."

"Like what things?"

"Like physics, chemistry, biology, geology, botany, medicine I suppose, erm psychology and there are others I just can't think of them right now." He told her.

"Which one do you do?"

"Astrophysics."

"Oh. What does that man over there do?" she asked McKay pointing at Beckett.

"That's Dr Beckett. He does medicine."

"What's that then?"

"He helps fix sick people. For example he will fix your arm for you and help Laura. He's probably already helping the children in the village." Her eyes went wide at this revelation.

"How will he fix my arm?"

"Well I'm not entirely sure of the specifics but he will put your arm in a cast until the bone has time to fix itself." Before she could say anything Dr Beckett said, "Come on everyone. Back to Atlantis we go." Amelia stood up and walked beside McKay when Ronan and Sheppard carried Laura on the stretcher back to the gate. McKay looked at Amelia and noticed that she was just about to drop. Without asking her he picked her up and carried her back to Atlantis.


	26. M7G677

When they arrived through the gate a second later Beckett rushed Laura off to the infirmary. Lorne had been pacing the gateroom floor waiting for them to come back.

"What happened?" he asked Sheppard and then looking at McKay he said, "Who's that?" Sheppard chuckled at him before replying; "There was an earthquake and then a tremor. Laura's gonna be fine. Her knee is pretty beat up…again. And this young lady is Amelia. She's been showing Laura around." Turning to Amelia, John said, "Amelia this is Evan. He's Laura's boyfriend. Evan this is Amelia. She's Laura's friend." Lorne smiled at Amelia who promptly hid her face in McKay's shoulder. Looking at Sheppard he said, "What did I do?"

"Nothing. I think she's grown quite fond of McKay…for some very strange reason and she has trouble trusting people."

"Hey! I'll have you know I'm very good with kids…" said McKay snarkily. At Sheppard's quirked eyebrow he added, "sort of. Now I'm going to take Amelia here to the infirmary and get her all fixed. Then I'm going to my lab to do some actual work." That said McKay turned on his heel and headed towards the infirmary.

"Wow. How long has he been around her?" asked Lorne.

"Around an hour. Why?" asked Sheppard.

"Well he's actually put someone else before himself. Did you notice that he didn't put her down?"

"Hm. That's interesting. Maybe this little girl is what we all needed. Do you think we'll be able to keep her?" asked Sheppard as if he was asking his parents if he could keep a stray dog. Lorne just looked at him and headed to the infirmary himself.

Arriving at the infirmary McKay put Amelia down on one of the empty beds when Dr Biro came towards them. As she approached Amelia clung to McKay's arm.

"You must be Amelia. Can I have a look at your arm there?" asked the doctor nicely. Amelia shook her head and tugged on McKay's arm. Bending his head towards her she said, "I want nice doctor man."

"But he's busy helping Laura. Dr Biro is very nice. I promise."

"I want nice doctor man." Amelia repeated. Sighing McKay straightened up and said to Dr Biro, "She wants Carson. Sorry."

"Well if she's in any pain give me a shout and I can get her something until he's done in surgery." McKay nodded and Dr Biro walked away. Rodney turned to Amelia and said, "Why won't you let the doctor treat you?"

"Scared."

"Ah ok. Right. Well I'm going to go to my lab and do some work. You'll be alright here ok?" McKay was already out the door before Amelia had a chance to say anything. As McKay was leaving Lorne walked in and smiled at Amelia. She shied away from him and then asked, "Mister? Where is Rodney going?" Surprised at being called 'mister' Lorne turned around and said, "You can call me Evan if you want and McKay is going to his lab. Why?"

"I want to be with Rodney until nice doctor man is finished with Miss Laura." Confused Lorne asked, "Can I ask why you want to be with McKay?"

"Why do you call Rodney 'McKay'? Why not just Rodney?" she returned.

"Well most of us do call him McKay. Very few call him Rodney. Why do you like him so much?"

"Because he's nice. What do you do?" she asked Lorne.

"I'm in the military like Sheppard. I'm his second in command."

"Who is Sheppard?" she asked.

"The tall man with messy hair."

"You mean John?" she asked him.

"Yes. John. He is the leader of the military here." Lorne replied.

"What is military?"

"Well military is loose term for…" Lorne was clearly struggling trying to explain the term when Sheppard, Ronan and Teyla came in. Turning to Sheppard Lorne said, "How would you describe the word 'military'?"

"What? Why?" asked Sheppard confused.

"Well Amelia here wants to know what 'military' means. And I'm struggling to come up with a suitable explanation."

"Ah ok." Turning to Amelia John smiled and said, "Well…I'm in the USAF, which stands for United States Air Force. Evan here is also in the USAF. You see those two people over there?" he asked her pointing at two marines that had just wondered in. She nodded. "They are what we call marines. There are also some people from the army here as well. We protect the innocent and people who can't protect themselves for whatever reason from very bad people. So we protect you and Laura and even Rodney. Although we have to protect him from himself sometimes."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you have to protect Rodney from himself?" she asked John puzzled.

"Because Rodney can sometimes get himself into trouble that he cannot get himself out of. You understand?"

"Yes. Can you take me to see Rodney? I don't like it in here." Chuckling John said, "Yeah I can take you to see Meredith. Don't worry no-one likes it here?"

"Who is Meredith?"

"McKay. Er Rodney." John chuckled and a mischievous grin flittered across his face. Picking up Amelia John said, "Come on then little one. I'll take you to Meredith now."

"Why do you call him that?" she asked John as he walked out of the infirmary. Lorne turned to the rest of Sheppard's team and said, "Uh oh. McKay is not gonna be happy when he finds out John has told Amelia his real name."

"No. He isn't." replied Teyla.

"She's very inquisitive isn't she?" asked Ronan.

"That she is. I wonder if that's why she's taken to McKay so quick." Lorne replied.

John and Amelia were almost at McKay's lab when John heard the familiar ranting of McKay. "Do any of you know what the hell it is that you're supposed to be doing?" he shouted. Amelia turned to John and said, "Why is Rodney shouting?" Surprised that Amelia knew it was McKay Sheppard replied, "How did you know that? Well he often shouts at his fellow scientists because they aren't as clever as he is, or at least that's what he likes to think, and when they do something wrong he shouts at them."

"I don't know how I knew. I just did. He fascinates me." Amelia replied. Sheppard didn't reply and carried her into the lab. Seeing them enter McKay suddenly stopped shouting at Zelenka and turned to Sheppard.

"Why did you bring her for?" asked McKay.

"She wanted to see you. I think she's bored of the infirmary." Replied Sheppard. Amelia was looking at Radek Zelenka with mild curiosity. This failed to go unnoticed by McKay.

"Hm really?" said McKay. Before Sheppard could reply Amelia said to Radek, "Hello. Who are you?" she asked him. Looking at McKay and then at Sheppard before answering, "I am Radek Zelenka. Who are you?"

"Amelia. Are you a scientist as well?" she asked him. Before he answered she turned to John and said, "John? Can I get down please?" John put her down and she wondered over to a stool and sat down after pulling herself up. She was now face to face with Zelenka. John motioned for Zelenka to answer her question.

"Yes I am also a scientist."

"What kind?" she asked him.

"Er…physicist." She looked at him for a minute before asking, "Is that different to Meredith?" McKay looked at Sheppard in anger, while Sheppard laughed out loud. "Oh…I…really…like…her." He said between gasping for air. Unsure of how to answer her question Radek looked at McKay pleadingly. Rolling his eyes he said, "Yes. That is different from me. I am an astrophysicist. I know astrophysics whereas Zelenka here knows physics."

"What's the difference?"

"Well…uh…theoretical astrophysics which is what I do…is…uh…physics that can be applied to the universe. Many of the things that Radek knows I know but I apply to the universe. Physics also deals with the universe but it is more mathematical. I use things like mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, relativity, nuclear and particle physics, and atomic and molecular physics."

"Cool."

"Excuse me? You understood that?" asked a flabbergasted McKay.

"Yes. Basically you use machinery, electrics, and magnets to try and explain the universe. Not to mention building blocks and you try and look at them. Correct?"

"Er building blocks?" asked Sheppard.

"Yes. The things that everything is made up of." Amelia replied. She looked at the shocked faces and said, "Have I done something wrong?"

"No, no. Not all. We're just surprised that you seem to understand our science. That's all." McKay replied in slight awe. Amelia now had McKay as one of her biggest fans when John suggested that she go and meet some other people on the expedition.

"Rodney will you come?" asked Amelia.

"Er yeah. Ok. Radek if you need me."

"I will call you on the radio. Go and have fun."

The rest of the afternoon Amelia, John and McKay met various members of the expedition. Amelia also seemed to be fascinated by Elizabeth and Teyla. But she was weary of Ronan until he lifted her onto his shoulders and she squealed happily, "I'm as big as a tree!" Amelia had laughed at everyone on her new perch. Carson had just finished with Laura's surgery when he clicked on his radio and said, "Colonel?"

"Go ahead Beckett."

"I hear our little visitor didn't want to be treated by Dr Biro. You can bring her back and I will set her arm."

"Ok. will do." He looked up at Amelia and said, "Dr Beckett is going to set your arm now. You ready?" he asked her.

"Yes. Arm is sore. Lets go." Ronan took her off his shoulders but still carried her to the infirmary. Once there Beckett came over and set her arm and said, "There that should heal nicely in about 6 weeks." He smiled at her. She smiled back and hugged him, "Thank you nice doctor man."

"Your welcome lass. But please call me Carson." She beamed at him and said, "How is Miss Laura?"

"She's going to be fine. She has a broken ankle and I've had to replace her left kneecap. It had completely shattered. She now has a metal one."

"How did you do that?" asked Amelia.

"Well I…uh…sucked out the broken parts of her kneecap and put a metal one in its place. It wasn't that complicated. She's going to be fine. Although she may be out of it for a little while longer. That was quite a nasty bump to the head she received." As Amelia was about to say something Carson tapped his ear, "Go ahead Elizabeth."

"Could you and Sheppard's team please bring Amelia back to the gate room? Her sister would like her back now."

"Aye. Will do. Beckett out." he said and turned to the group, "Well Miss Amelia. It appears that your sister has come to take you back home." Amelia paled immediately and started to shake. The group looked at her in shock, she turned to Rodney and said, "Please don't make me go." McKay looked shocked. He didn't know what to say. It was John who came to his rescue, "Why don't you want to go back Amelia?" Amelia turned frightened eyes onto John and said, "She is not my sister. I have no family. They all made the 'sacrifice' not so long ago. She is just someone who the elders placed me with. I don't like her. She isn't nice to me."

"I thought your people had agreed to suspend the sacrifices."

"They did. But not in the outlying villages. I was only sent to the Keras's village half a cycle ago." Amelia replied.

"Come on. We have to go to the gate room." John said sadly. McKay picked Amelia up off the bed and carried her to the gate room. She was sobbing by the time they arrived. McKay held her closer when he saw the person who was supposedly Amelia's sister. The young woman had a pointed look about her and he instinctively didn't like her.

"Please let go of my sister." Her voice was clipped and had no warmth in it. She moved forward to take her from McKay when John stepped in front of them, "Hang on. I want to know if she's going to be ok. She doesn't want to go with you."

"John?" asked Elizabeth "What's going on?" John answered Elizabeth without taking his eyes off the young woman. "Amelia doesn't want to go. Amelia is scared of her. I don't want Amelia to go off with someone she doesn't trust."

"John. We cannot keep her. No matter how much you may want to. We can give her an IDC in case something goes wrong. But she has to go."

"Fine." He turned to Amelia and said, "Amelia, we will check in on you ok? We will give you a special code if you want to come back. I want you to check in every week to let us know your ok. If you don't check in for whatever reason we will come and get you." He looked at Elizabeth who nodded her agreement.

"Do…y…you…promise?" she asked through sobs.

"I promise." It was McKay who said this. He hugged her tightly. He put Amelia down and wiped her face of tears with his thumbs. Amelia went to stand next to the woman when Ronan stood in front of her before allowing her to go, "If I hear of anything untoward. You will have me to deal with. Is that clear." The woman merely stared at him coldly before replying, "I assure you. You will not hear of it." The woman grabbed Amelia's good arm and pulled her through the gate as Amelia looked back at her friends.


	27. Bizarro World

Laura sat up groggily and looked around her. Frowning slightly she noticed that she was not on Atlantis. She noticed that she was in her parents' old house in Crete. _What the hell am I doing here?_ She thought to herself. Just then she heard the sound of metal clinking on metal. She stood up and walked to the kitchen when a barrel of fluff with four legs came running down the stairs. She turned and smiled, "Hello Fluffs." She stroked the dog behind his ears and he gave a contented growl.

"Hello Princess." Laura stood up and froze. Turning her head slightly she saw her mother standing in the kitchen/dining room. The woman was in her late 70's with grey hair. Laura looked just like this woman bar the grey hair and wrinkles. Laura smiled and said, "Hey Mam. You ok? Where's Dad?" she asked her. Her mother shrugged and said, "He's taken the dog for a walk." Laura looked at her confused, "But the dogs…" she turned to stroke the dog again and realised that he had disappeared, "here. Oh. Never mind. So what am I doing here?" she asked. This time it was her mother who looked at her in confusion.

"You came here for a holiday. Remember?"

"No. I don't remember. This isn't real." Laura said.

"Of course this is real. You came in on the plane. Your ears were killing you again. So you've been kinda out of it since you got here. Hence your balance issues."

"Mam. My balance is fine! Jesus Christ! This isn't real." Laura said shaking her head trying to clear it. Giving a sigh her mother said, "Ok. I'll humour you. Why isn't this real?" Laura gave the woman a withering look.

"Well for one thing I'm in another freaking galaxy. Called Pegasus. I live on Atlantis."

"Pegasus? As in the winged horse out of Hercules? I know you always loved your mythology but this is ridiculous. And Atlantis? It's not real. It's just a myth. You know that. Now come and have your breakfast." When Laura didn't move her mother started to get annoyed, "Ok. So what's the other reason why this isn't real?"

"Well…you, Dad and the Fluffs are…dead."

"Don't be ridiculous! Of course I'm not dead. Now come and have your breakfast."

"I don't eat breakfast and if you were really my mother you would know that. So who the hell are you?" Laura demanded as she walked to the dresser where her 'mother' kept the photos of the family.

"Don't be stupid of course I'm your mother. Now stop being silly and eat." Laura looked at her and rolled her eyes. Laura turned her attention back to the dresser and picked up the first photo. Looking at it she nearly dropped it in surprise. In it was a picture of her and Evan. But Evan was in dress uniform and Laura was in simple white dress. In the background was the Atlantis Stargate. They were both smiling at each other. Pulling her gaze away from the photograph Laura held it out to her 'mother' and said, "Well if this is real how do you explain this?"

"You gave this to me. Actually you posted it because neither me and dad could make it. He is a good man. Must have the patience of a saint to put up with you though." She smiled at Laura and Laura just scowled.

"Mother. You never met Evan and we're not married. Another thing you wouldn't have been allowed this picture because of the gate, as you wouldn't have had security clearance whether you were alive when I went to Atlantis in the first place! Now stop bullshitting and tell me what the hell is going on!" Laura demanded.

"Don't take that tone with me!" Laura gave her another look. "Alright fine. This isn't real but I am your mother. I'm here to give you some advice so to speak. You have to protect her." Now Laura was totally confused.

"Protect who?"

"Amelia. You have to love and protect her as if she was your own." Her mother joined Laura by the dresser and handed her a horizontal picture frame. Holding it out for Laura to take. Laura took it and looked at it. In this picture Laura and Evan were smiling at camera with Amelia in between them. She looked at her mother. "How…? I don't understand."

"You have a wonderful family around you. You protect each other. But you have to protect Amelia."

"From who?"

"You already know the answer to that."

"The Wraith? Of course the whole damn galaxy needs protecting from them. But who does Amelia need protecting from?"

"You are asking the wrong question." Laura sighed in exasperation.

"Do you know someone named Oma? Or rather have you been talking to someone called Oma? What do you mean I've been asking the wrong question?" she asked. Her mother turned and walked away. The metal on metal clinking sound came back again. She felt a wet nose nudge her hand wanting a stroke. She looked down and said, "Hello again Fluffs. What question do I need to ask?" The dog didn't reply but was growling softly in contentment from all of the attention that she was bestowing on him. Getting fed up Laura stood up again and continued to look at the pictures on the dresser. There was a big one in the centre of the others. In this picture there was, John, Teyla, a young boy she could only assume was John and Teyla's son, another boy that Laura didn't recognise, McKay, Amelia, her, Evan, two twin boys she didn't recognise, Ronan, Radek, Elizabeth, Carson, Laura Cadman, Chuck, Gary and Mark. They were all laughing and smiling at the camera. They actually looked happy. Again the gate was in the background. _What a bizarre group of people. What a family, a very strange family_ she thought to herself but she couldn't stop herself from smiling. She lifted the picture off the dresser and walked up to the bench with the ironing board in front of it and leaned against it. She lifted the photo so that her mother could see it.

"How do I get this?" she asked. Her mother smiled and said, "Now that is the right question. You have to protect Amelia to get this picture. You all have to. You look after her and she will look after you."

"Who is this?" she asked pointing to the first boy she didn't know. Laughing again her mother replied, "That is Ryan Tagan Sheppard. He is obviously John and Teyla's son." Laura smiled and looked harder at the boy. There was definitely a family resemblance. "Who is that?" she asked this time pointing to the boy standing next to Ryan.

"That is Brendan. He is John's nephew."

"Hm. Is that it? No more information?"

"No. I'm sure your curious as to who the twin boys belong to?"

"Yes actually I am but I don't want to know." Laura replied. She already had a sneaking suspicion who they were. "So how do I get back to Atlantis?"

"When your done healing." Laura groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Great. So I have to stay in bizarre world for a little while I'm guessing."

"Yeah. Me and you can catch up." Her mother said smiling. "Now eat." Groaning again Laura sat down at the table and ate her cereal.


	28. Home and birthdays

They all stood in silence and stared at the silent gate.

"We should never have let her go. That bitch could do anything to her." McKay said breaking the silence.

"Well. If she doesn't get in contact next week, then we'll go in and get her out. Until then we have to wait." Sheppard replied sadly. Teyla held his hand and bowed her head. She couldn't explain it but she felt a great loss. Like she had lost a friend.

"You little Wraith worshipper." Spat the woman at Amelia. "You dare to leave us do you?" she demanded slapping Amelia across the face. Amelia just looked at her but didn't allow the woman her satisfaction voicing the pain that was going through her face. "You going to run to your friends are you? Tell them what I did?" Amelia shook her head. "I didn't think so. Now get out of my sight." Amelia walked away to the little hut that was her home. Everyday she received beatings for no reason. Everyday Amelia said nothing. She would not say anything until she had her chance at her weekly check-in with her friends. She truly believed that they would come and get her, every night she would dream about it and about what her life could be like on Atlantis. Every night one of the team would scoop her up and take her away, one night it would be Rodney, another night it would be John, another it would be Ronan. But the outcome would always be the same. She would end up back on Atlantis with people who promised to protect her. She woke up on the seventh day with a smile on her face. When the woman came into her little room, she pulled Amelia roughly to her feet and slapped her. "Now. No funny stuff. We'll make your little check-in and then you'll go back to work." Amelia was pulled outside and was greeted by a group of boys. All of which were older than her by a couple of years. "Lets go." They walked to the gate and Amelia dialled Atlantis, once connected she sent through her IDC.

The whole team were waiting on tenterhooks. Today was the day that Amelia was going to check in. in preparation they were all geared up ready to go and get her. Just in case.

"_Atlantis?_" said Amelia. Rodney was first to reply, "Amelia. We're all here. You ok?" They heard a deep breath and then it being let out in small hiss. "Amelia? Answer me." Rodney said urgently.

"_Help me Rodney!_" came her little voice in hurry over the radio. After hearing 'help' Ronan, Sheppard, Teyla and even Lorne was down the stairs waiting to go through and get her. McKay could hear grunts coming over the radio. "We're coming. Just hold on." He nodded at the technician to close the gate and dial M7G-677 again. McKay hurried down the steps and joined the others. "Lets go get her." Sheppard said. The gate whooshed into life and they were through the gate in no time at all. What greeted them was horrifying. A group of young boys were in circle crowding something. Every now and then one of them would punch or kick the thing in the middle. Over the taunts of the boys Ronan heard, "Ronan is going to hurt you." Ronan growled and Sheppard said, "What?"

"Its Amelia they're kicking and punching." He rushed over when one of the boys said, "Oh yeah? Who's Ronan?" Ronan pushed two of them away and said, "That's me." They all turned around and stared at him, leaving Amelia they tried to hit him instead. McKay hurried forward and scooped up a bleeding Amelia. She opened her eyes weakly and said, "Rodney?" McKay smiled and said, "Yeah that's me. Come on lets get you home." He started to walk to towards the open gate. As they had come through Teyla had dialled home. He was almost there when a hand caught his shoulder. He turned around and saw that not only was Ronan fighting the boys but so was Lorne and Sheppard. He turned to the person who had caught his shoulder and said coldly, "Let go of me."

"No. Give her back to me." Replied the woman.

"I don't think so. She's coming home with us." Rodney replied. He felt a sharp sting across his face and he felt Amelia tremble. Rodney looked at her and said, "Normally where I come from men don't hit women as a general rule. But in your case I think I'd be willing to make an acception." He went to place Amelia next to the DHD so that she could stand up. When Teyla came up beside him, "No need Rodney. I will handle this. You get Amelia to Dr Beckett." Rodney nodded and walked towards the gate again. He turned to see that Lorne, Sheppard and Ronan had handled the boys easily and were also walking towards the gate. Teyla was kicking the crap out of the young woman when Teyla said, "Where I come from we don't beat up little children and I know that John's people also do not beat up little children. Consider yourself lucky that I do not kill you where you stand. Amelia would not want that." Giving the woman another kick Teyla walked towards the gate and stepped through with the rest of her family.

When Laura had woken up a few days earlier she had said that Amelia could be in trouble. When asked about this she just said that she had gut instinct that something wasn't right. Laura had looked at Lorne and said, "You have to go with them."

"But why?" he had asked her, "She didn't even like me that much."

"Just please." Laura had said to him.

"Ok. I'll go. You ok?" he asked worried.

"Yeah why?" she had asked him.

"Oh no reason. You just seem really invested considering you were out for the count when you were brought back through the gate and after the surgery. What's happened to make you this way?"

"She needs protecting. We all do and it took me a long time for her to trust me. I want her to live with me." She had turned to the rest of the group and said, "Is that ok with you?"

"Yeah that's fine by us. But I think we'll all be looking after her. Just like we look after each other anyways." Sheppard had replied.

"I wouldn't expect anything else. But I guess we should ask her first. Let her make her own decision?" Laura had said.

"Now that sounds like a better plan." Lorne had said. Laura had shot him a look. He held up his hands in defence and didn't speak to Laura for the rest of the afternoon. Now she was pacing as best she could in the gate room waiting for the team to come back. She had heard about the transmission from Elizabeth. The gate came to life and the team wondered through. McKay was carrying Amelia in his arms. He walked straight past her and headed straight for the infirmary. She looked at them all in surprise. "What happened?" she asked.

"They were beating her up. No wonder she didn't want to go back to them." Replied John shaking his head.

"Come on lets go and see how she's doin." Lorne said. He smiled at Laura and then helped her go back to the infirmary. Once they all arrived Beckett had looked her over and she was in perfect health except for some cuts and bruises to her face and chest area. "She's going to be fine with some TLC. Which I think we can all provide." He said smiling at Amelia. Amelia smiled back and turned to the others and said, "Thank you, Ronan, Teyla, Rodney, John, Evan. Thank you for coming and getting me." John smiled at her and said, "Hey your one of the family you can call me uncle John if you want. Welcome home." He turned and headed out of the infirmary with the others while McKay stayed behind. Stopping he said, "Amelia when's your birthday?"

"I don't understand uncle John. What is a birthday?" she asked him.

"A birthday is a celebration of the day that we were born. Its an earth custom."

"I do not know when my birthday is. Why don't you pick one out for me?" she said.

"Ok. I will. How old are you anyways?"

"Seven."

"Well congratulations you've just turned 8." He said laughing.

"So today is my new birthday?"

"Yes. Today is your birthday. Because you've joined our family today."

"What's today's' date?" asked McKay.

"Er…it's the 17th of October I believe. Why?"

"No reason. Just curious so that I can remember for next year." Rodney replied. Laura hadn't said anything and was also smiling. "What you smiling at?" asked Lorne.

"Nothing." She turned to Amelia and said, "Happy birthday Amelia." Smiling Amelia said, "And to you Miss Laura." Everyone stopped and stared at Laura. "Its your birthday today as well? Why didn't you say anything?" demanded Lorne.

"Coz my birthday is no big deal." She replied.

"How old are you?" asked John. Laura raised an eyebrow at him and said, "That's for me to know and you never to find out. Like I said its no big deal." With that said Laura smiled again to Amelia and walked out of the infirmary. She walked to her quarters and picked up Spot. Walking back to the infirmary she walked up to Amelia's bed and handed her the stuffed cuddly toy.

"What's this?" asked Amelia.

"It's called a teddy bear. He's called Spot the dog. You can have him if you want."

"What do I do with him?"

"You cuddle him. Take him with you everywhere if you really want. He was my first teddy bear when I was born and now he's your first teddy bear." Laura said smiling.

"Thank you Miss Laura."

"You're very welcome and please call me auntie Laura instead of Miss Laura. It makes me feel old." Laura said chuckling and then added, "See you later Mia."

"Bye." McKay had just sat there in wonder and hadn't said anything. He smiled at her when Laura turned and left.


	29. Leaving

Mia had been living with them for a few months and she had, had a profound affect on everyone. Most people went out of their way to make sure was ok. In the few months that she had been with them they had narrowly defeated the Wraith on a few occasions as well some of their people being kidnapped by the Genii. However it was McKay's reaction to the child that had everyone thrown through a loop. She was clearly the most important thing to him but she wasn't living with him like everyone expected. Instead she had chosen to live with Laura and Lorne. They had now moved in together and were very happy. She had even started calling Laura 'mom' which was a bit of a surprise to everyone including Laura. Mia had also grown accustomed to Lorne being around everywhere and she now seemed to genuinely like him. It also helped the situation by the fact that Lorne practically let her do anything she wanted within reason, or so he told anyone if they asked. One day they had been watching a DVD called 'The Little Mermaid' when Lorne cleared his throat. He took a deep breath and said, "Mia? Can I ask you something?"

"Yes. Is it a secret?"

"Yes it is." He took a deep breath and said, "How would you feel if I was to ask Laura to marry me?" Lorne looked at Mia in apprehension while he waited for her to answer. She thought for a few minutes and then said, "Would you hurt her?"

"God no. I love her and you of course. But I want to make sure you'd be happy with me asking her before I asked."

"I would be very happy Evan. When are you going to ask her?" she asked excitedly.

"Well I was going to ask her when we went to earth. Take her to Australia and ask her there. What do you think?"

"Where will I be?"

"You'll be in here on Atlantis with uncle Rodney remember?"

"Oh yes. You and mom have to go for some sort of review. Yes?" she asked him.

"That's right. So your ok with me asking Laura to marry me?" he asked her again.

"Yes. You make her very happy." Mia replied. Lorne grinned at her and picked her up and swung her around. Mia squealed in delight. Once they were both significantly dizzy, Lorne stopped spinning her and they fell to the floor laughing.

"I was wondering where you two had got to. What's so funny?" asked Laura from the doorway. Lorne looked at Mia and Mia looked at Lorne and they both started laughing again. Laura frowned. After five more minutes of this Lorne stood up and walked over to Laura who was still hovering in the doorway unsure if she wanted to go in or not.

"Its nothing. Just a private joke between Mia and me. Isn't that right Mia?"

"Yes daddy." Mia said without thinking. Laura looked at Lorne and then at Mia in surprise. Lorne just stood there in shocked silence. Mia got up and walked up to the pair and cuddled them both.

"I'm off to see uncle Mer. He said he would show me something cool." She said and walked off to McKay's lab.

"Be careful!" Laura called after her. She turned her attention back to Lorne and said, "Well that was…strange."

"You're telling me. You nearly ready to go to earth tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Just got bored of packing that was all. You hungry?" she asked him. "Yeah I'm starving." He said and they wondered off to the mess hall. Laura looked at him for a couple of minutes and said, "You know I tried to ask you a few times through the link but you seem to have found a way to turn it off. Why?" she asked him.

"Uh…well you know its only fair that I learn so that you don't invade my head at wrong moments." She looked at him, "You know like that time in front of the president. Can't have that happen again. I've been able to do it for a while. It doesn't bother you does it?" he asked her.

"No, no. I was just surprised that was all." She said smiling at him, not entirely sure she was believing him. The following day they were ready to go to earth. Laura hugged Mia and said, "You be good for uncle Rodney ok?" Mia rolled her eyes.

"Yes mom. I will be. Have fun on earth. See you later." Mia hugged Laura and stood beside Rodney. Laura walked in front of McKay and said, "Did you teach her the eye roll? I'll see you soon Rodney. Do you want anything bringing back?"

"I didn't teach her the eye roll. She picked it up from you. No. Carson has my list of things that I need for my many allergies." He replied which got an eye roll from Laura. He smiled smugly at her when she realised that she had just eye rolled. Shaking her head she walked over to Lorne and said, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah lets go. See you all soon. Be good Mia."

"Yes dad." Mia turned to Rodney and said, "Can we go blow stuff up now uncle Mer?"

"WHAT!" demanded Laura turning back to McKay. McKay blushed and said, "She's kidding I swear. Its just a computer simulation of what a solar system looks like when it blows up."

"Like you don't already know what that looks like." John muttered. McKay scowled at him when John said, "Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on them. Go. Have fun."

"Hm ok. But for the record I don't believe you. I know what your like for trouble. See you all later." Laura replied before walking through the wormhole back to Earth. John turned to McKay and Mia and said, "So then Meredith. What we blowing up today?"


	30. Out of bounds

Mia sat up and screamed, McKay came running over and pulled her into a hug, "What's up sweet pea?" he asked gently.

"Nightmare. I don't like it. Uncle Mer I'm scared." She replied shakily.

"What happened?" he asked her.

"Nasty evil things. Came and gobbled up everyone leaving me alone."

"Don't worry. It wasn't real. No one will leave you. You won't be left alone, I promise. You ready to go back to sleep?"

"I think so. Can you wait until I fall back asleep? That's what mam does if I have a bad dream." She asked him.

"Yeah. Ok. Snuggle in with Spot." Mia snuggled back into her covers and cuddled Spot and Rodney's arm for all she was worth and closed her eyes.

Deciding that he couldn't go back to sleep Rodney decided to go to his lab and start working. Carefully removing his arm from Mia's clutches he got changed and walked out the room. He'd been working for a fair few hours when the rest of his science team came in. _Ah finally_ he thought. "Zelenka. I want you to run some simulations on maximising the power output on the Zee PM while I'm offworld. Once you've done that you're to figure out what this does." He handed Zelenka a new ancient device that just wouldn't activate regardless of who was touching it.

"I don't have the gene." Zelenka replied.

"Yes…yes. So you keep reminding me. It won't activate even when Sheppard touches it. I want you to fix it and then get Dr Biro to activate it. Now do you think you can handle all of that?"

"Yes. What about Miss Amelia?"

"She'll be fine. Dr Biro is going to keep her occupied."

"Ok. Don't get into trouble offworld."

"Of course we're going to get into trouble. I'm with Sheppard and Ronan." McKay said sarcastically and walked out of the labs. He went to his room to grab his tac vest and left a note for Mia telling her to behave and what time they'll be back.

Mia woke up to an empty room. Sighing she got out of bed and stretched, walking over to McKay's desk she noticed the note telling her that they were offworld and that they would be back at 4. A ps said told her to behave for Dr Biro. She rolled her eyes and decided to have a quick shower before reporting to Dr Biro. She came out of the shower and changed into her little Atlantis uniform and walked to the transporter, deciding that she wanted to have some breakfast first. Stepping up to the transporter it immediately opened and the panel immediately lit up as well. She could just reach the place where the mess was on the little map. Pushing the area where the mess was she saw the white light and then the doors opened up to darkness. Puzzled she walked out of the transporter and sat down next to the wall opposite the transporter. Using what little light she had she set her watch for 4pm, so that she could radio John and Rodney when they came back offworld.

"Where is she?" fumed Dr Biro. "She should have been here 3 hours ago! I have more important things to do than baby-sit as it is." Suddenly a thought struck her, tapping her earpiece she said, "Dr Zelenka?"

"Yes?"

"Its Dr Biro. Have you seen Amelia this morning?" she asked the Czech.

"No. Is she not with you?"

"No. I haven't seen her. What should I do?"

"Maybe she is sleeping?"

"At 2 in the afternoon?" Dr Biro asked sceptically.

"Hm. Maybe she forgot and is with Elizabeth? Rodney did say that he was going to leave her a note. Maybe he forgot you know Rodney."

"Ah ok. Thank you Radek."

"No problem. If she still hasn't turned up by the time Sheppard comes back we will have to tell them that we have lost her."

"Don't want to think about that."

"Me neither." That said the clicked off the connection. Radek turned back to his simulations that Rodney had left him.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Mia looked at her watch and turned off the alarm. She would wait half an hour before she would try to radio them. In the gateroom the gate whooshed into life and Sheppard, McKay, Teyla and Ronan stepped through the gate as Radek came running down the steps. Trying to catch his breath he ran up to Rodney and said, "Ah…glad your back…have…problem…"

"Can't it wait Radek? I think I'm allergic to something else." Replied McKay as he walked away and followed his teammates towards the infirmary. As he entered the infirmary he looked around and noticed that something wasn't right. "Where's Mia?" he asked Dr Biro who had just come round the curtain from checking on Sheppard.

"Didn't Radek tell you?" asked Dr Biro, just as Radek came into the infirmary. Rodney rounded on him, "Tell me what? Radek? Where's Mia?" his voice reaching a level that only dogs could hear. Hearing the commotion Sheppard, Teyla and Ronan came to stand beside Rodney.

"What's going on?" asked Sheppard.

"Well as I tried to tell Rodney before he came here Miss Amelia…is…well…"

"She's well what?" interrupted McKay.

"She's missing." Zelenka said quietly.

"She's WHAT!" said Sheppard.

"Missing. I think we may have lost her somewhere in the city." Zelenka said looking at the floor.

"How could you lose an 8 year old?" demanded Ronan. Without waiting for an answer McKay stormed back up to the control room and pushed Chuck away from the life signs detector. Not seeing anyone out of bounds McKay tapped his earpiece as the rest of the team came into the control room.

"Amelia?" he said. Mia could hear a faint crackling in her ear and she tapped it saying, "McKay? Colonel? Can anyone hear me?" Mia stood up and walked down a little corridor to where there was a small window. Not getting a response McKay panicked. "Amelia?" but he still got static. Turning to Sheppard he said, "We have to find her. She's not showing up on the life signs detector and no-one is out of bounds."

"Don't worry we'll find her." Sheppard said positively. He tapped his own earpiece and said, "Amelia? Can you hear me? Its colonel Sheppard. If you can hear me I want you to tell me where you are." They all waited to see if she would reply. Standing next to the window Mia realised she was no longer getting static but the reception was still lousy. Standing on the railing she tried to push the window open, after a couple of minutes the window opened and she stuck her head out of the window and tapped her earpiece again. "Rodney? Colonel Sheppard?"

"Amelia!" came Sheppard's voice.

"Colonel! I'm lost."

"Where are you?"

"I don't know."

"How did you get there?" asked McKay.

"I was heading to the mess in the transporter. Like I've done a million times but it malfunctioned and I ended up here."

"What do you mean? Malfunctioned?" asked McKay incredulous. "Rodney this is not the time." said Teyla.

"Amelia I want you to stay where you are. We will find you." Said Sheppard. He clicked off his radio and turned to his team. "Right lets go." Suddenly Teyla grabbed his arm and said, "We must hurry."

"Why?"

"There's a wraith here." They all looked at each other and ran to the nearest transporter. Pushing the little map to where the mess is, they ended up in the mess. Frowning they pushed just a little bit past the mess hall and they ended up in the dark. "The wraith is nearby." Teyla whispered. "Amelia!" shouted McKay. They heard a jumping sound and then the sound of feet running towards them. Mia barrelled round the corner just as the wraith approached from the other side. "DUCK!" shouted Ronan. Mia froze and dropped to the flat on the floor and covered her ears. Sheppard, Ronan and Teyla opened fire and shot the wraith down while Rodney scurried over to Mia once they had stopped firing and pulled her into a hug. She was shivering. "Its alright. It's all over. Come on lets get you back to civilisation." John said scooping her up and carrying her.

"I did what you told me to uncle John. If I ever got lost."

"Yeah I know. Well done." John replied. They walked back to the transporter and headed for the infirmary to get her checked over. After half an hour it was decided that she could go McKay's quarters and sleep. Carrying her to his room Rodney put her to bed and read her a story. She was soon asleep and Rodney got changed and went to sleep. It had been a long day for everyone.

A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to update, should be updating quite a lot now that uni is finished.


	31. Meet the parents

Evan was silent all the way to his parents' house. Laura was too busy concentrating on where she was going to really notice. She stole a quick look at him; he was staring out the window looking past everything.

"You ok?" she asked him. Startled out of his reverie he said, "Yeah. I'm fine. Just a little bit tired. That's all."

"Yeah ok. So tell me a little about your parents." Evan groaned, "Do I have to?"

"Yes. This was your idea for your parents to meet me. If anyone should be nervous it should be me." She said to him.

"Ok fine. Well my father is ex-secret service. My mother used to work as a physics teacher in the local high school. Needless to say she used to always ask the questions to me. No-one else. It got pretty damn annoying. Dad wasn't around much, protecting the President at the time. You know all that top secret stuff that he couldn't ever talk about." He laughed slightly, "Ironically I now have the highest security clearance. He always said I wouldn't do anything remotely interesting. If only he knew. He wasn't happy when I joined the Air Force. Er…lets see. Oh yeah I have a younger brother who my parents absolutely love. He's like the perfect son. Don't know if you'll meet him or not. Really hope not. Think that's about it."

"Any subjects of conversation I should avoid?"

"Er other than the obvious Atlantis one…nope can't think of any." He turned back towards the window and the rest of the journey was spent in silence. An hour later he turned to her and said, "Well we'll be there in a couple of minutes, you have our special connection turned on?"

"Always." She said smiling. She drove the car up a steep driveway, turned it around so that it faced down the drive. Looking at Evan she smiled and took a deep breath before saying, "Lets go." Evan nodded and got out of the car. Laura got out and hurried towards Evan. Gripping her hand they walked to the front door and knocked before entering.

A woman of around 55ish came bustling into view. She was wearing a black skirt and white shirt. She smiled when she saw Evan and said, "Welcome home mister Evan. Your mother is in the living room. She saw you pull up. She will be pleased to meet you. Who is this young lady?"

"Monica this is Laura. Laura this is Monica, my mothers maid."

_Maid?_

_Yeah don't ask._

"Nice to meet you Monica." Laura said and stretching out her hand. Monica took it and shook her hand.

"And you miss. Please follow me." Monica said and began walking towards the living room. Upon entering the room Laura was struck by the enormity of it. Everything in it was huge the bookcases, the couches, the chairs, the tables. It was if it was made for giants instead of human beings. Laura looked at Evan puzzled he shook his head without answering.

"Mother, this is Laura. Laura this is my mother Phoebe Lorne." Laura smiled and said, "Nice to meet you Mrs Lorne." Laura held out her hand again but Mrs Lorne just scowled and said, "Evan. You didn't drive. You let your woman drive." Laura dropped her hand and stared in shock.

_Woman?!_

_Just ignore her. She's bitter._

_I warn you right now I may not be able to keep my manners._

_I understand._

"Mother, she has a name and its Laura."

"So where did you pick this one up?" demanded the woman. Evan rolled his eyes and said, "I didn't pick her up anywhere. Where's father?"

"Ugh. He's with his tramp somewhere. He should be home soon."

"Is Joey around?"

"Yes. JOEY! Your brother's home! JOEY GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"_ALRIGHT! I'LL BE RIGHT THERE! JESUS CHRIST!"_ came a deep voice from upstairs. Then a sound that resembled elephants stampeding came down the solid stairs. A taller version of Evan came stumbling into the room. Evan turned around, "Hey Joey. This is Laura. Laura this Joey."

"Nice to meet you." Laura said in a clipped voice. Joey turned and looked Laura up and down. A small smile started to form on his lips and said to Evan, "Nice. Much better than the last one you brought home."

_Last one?_

Yeah. She was my high school sweetheart so you have nothing to worry about. An uncomfortable silence filled the room when the front door opened and closed again. A tall man came into the room. He had grey hair and blue eyes. Laura looked at the newcomer, Joey and Evan. Wow. You all look alike. Is he nicer than your mother?

I guess. Came a voice she didn't recognise. She looked at Evan quizzically. "What?"

"Uh…nothing. Just…"

"Dad, this is Laura. Laura this is my dad Ross." Joey interrupted. Laura smiled and said, "Nice to meet you."

"My aren't you a nice young lady." Said the man kindly. He turned to Evan and said, "I like her." Without waiting for an answer from Evan he walked through another door on the opposite side of the room. "Of course he does. He likes anyone younger than him." came Mrs Lorne's voice. Laura turned around and said, "Wow you really are a bitter old woman. He was just being nice. Maybe you should try it sometime."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me."

"Excuse me?"

"Your excused." The old woman stood up and said, "I will not be spoken to like that in my house you little tramp." That was it. Laura was now well and truly pissed off. "You don't know me. In fact you know nothing about me. So I will tell you something about me. I am not a tramp and I will speak to you anyway I like. I am actually a very pleasant person until someone insults me for no good reason."

"Mother apologise." Evan said. She turned to her son and said, "No. I will not. Now get out of my sight all three of you."

"Fine. Come on Laura lets go see what dads up to." Laura followed Evan out of the room into a large kitchen, where his father was making a sandwich.

"Nice. It's about time someone said something to her. I'm liking you more and more." Ross said when Laura walked in. she was still fuming.

"Yeah. I liked it." Joey returned. Laura reddened from all of the attention.

"I shouldn't have lost my temper. I'm so sorry Evan." Laura smiled at him and got a smile back. "Don't worry about it. I won't lose any sleep over it." He turned to Joey and said, "Joe will you take Laura out into the garden for a sec please? I need to talk to dad."

"Yeah. No problem. Come on Laura follow me. I'll show you the garden." He said rolling his eyes. Laura looked at Evan one more time and followed Joey out.

"What's this about son?" asked Ross once the pair was out of earshot.

"I'm going to ask Laura to marry me. I was wondering if could have your mother's engagement ring."

"Yeah you can have it. I really do like her. Ignore your mother. She's cracking up. I will just go and get the ring."

"Thanks." Evan said as his father loped out of the room. Evan sighed and looked out the window at Laura who was standing nervously on the patio. A few minutes later the older Lorne came back into the kitchen and handed Evan the little velvet-covered box to his older son. "I hope she's worth it."

"She is. Look she hasn't a clue about what's going on. So I think we're gonna go. We've got a flight to catch to Venice and then onto Sydney."

"Where are you gonna propose? Venice or Sydney?"

"I'm thinking Sydney. But that all depends if Laura doesn't suspect anything is up. She's very observant." Ross chuckled and was still laughing when Joey and Laura came back in. Laura looked at Evan and said, "What did I miss?"

"Oh nothing. Dads just laughing at mother. She's ranting again. apparently she said something funny when he came back from the bathroom."

"Ah…ok." Laura replied and looked at Ross out of the corner of her eye. She turned off their connection and thought to herself, something is definitely up. Hm. She shook her head and Evan said, "Well we'd better go."

"Where we going?" asked Laura.

"It's a surprise. Come on. Thanks again dad. Joey see you in a little while."

"Yeah. See you around." Joey replied. Laura and Evan walked back through the living room and Evan said, "Bye mother." Laura didn't say anything as they walked through. Once back outside Laura climbed into the drivers seat and started the car waving out of the window to Monica. She turned to Lorne and said, "So where we going?"

A/N: Sorry about the delay. Had writers block. Bit of a random chapter but I will be getting to the proposal soon.


	32. A big fright

Over the next few days Mia didn't go anywhere near the transporter and could be seen lurking in the rec room and avoiding everyone. Rodney had told her off for wondering off and getting lost. Every night Mia tucked herself into bed and went to sleep. She hadn't seen Rodney in days. She was still having nightmares but the one that woke her up now had her very worried. A wraith had just killed Rodney. Sitting up and taking in gulps of air, she calmed herself down and plodded over to Rodney's bed. Poking the bed she realised he wasn't there and wanting to make sure he was ok she went to his lab. Looking in she saw that he seemed to be asleep with his head in his arms. Walking over to him she pulled on his sleeve, which caused his arm to fall next to her. Jumping back in fright she took a hold of his hand and then quickly dropped it. It was icy cold. Mia panicked and ran towards the control room hoping that Elizabeth would be in her office. As she ran past Chuck she could barely see because of her tears. Chuck noticed this and stopped her when she came running back out of Elizabeth's office.

"Mia?" he called. Mia stopped and looked at him.

"Mia what's wrong?"

"It's…its…its uncle Mer. He's cold and he's not moving." She sobbed. Chuck turned to another technician and said, "Watch the gate. I'm going to check this out." Turning back to Mia he said, "Where is he?"

"His lab." Chuck stood up and said to the technician, "Radio colonel Sheppard and tell him where we are and a medical team."

"Ok. Will do." Mia looked at Chuck and said, "Don't wake up uncle John. I don't want to get wrong again."

"Don't worry. It'll be ok. Come on." He picked her up and headed towards the lab. By the time they arrived John was already there.

"Chuck? What's up? Mia why are you up?" he asked. Mia spoke first.

"I had a nightmare. Came to find uncle Mer. He's cold."

"Ok. Chuck?"

"She came running through the control room and headed for Elizabeth's office. I stopped her and asked her what was wrong."

"Ok. Lets go in there and see McKay." As they walked in John could see that McKay wasn't moving. He walked over and touched his head. Pulling his hand back sharply. "Jesus. He is cold." He then checked for a pulse that was barely there. As he did so the med team came in.

"Lets get him on the stretcher and to the infirmary." They loaded McKay onto the stretcher and rushed off to the infirmary. Dr Keller was already waiting when Mia and John walked in. Chuck had gone back to the control room.

"How is he doc?" asked John.

"He's gonna be fine. It was his hypoglycaemia. He almost died because he hasn't eaten in a couple of days. He has to get into a routine where he has three meals a day. He should know this by now. I've connected him to an IV so he should be conscious by morning." Mia walked over to the bed and sat in the seat next to it making a solemn vow to herself that she would make sure that Rodney got his three meals a day. Starting tomorrow.

A/N: Sorry about the shortness. I'm not sure what happens if you get hypoglycaemia shock or whatever. So sorry again if its inaccurate.


	33. Proposal

Lorne was sitting quietly on the plane musing to himself. _How should I do it? Take her to a nice meal somewhere? Where should I do it? Venice? Sydney? What if she says no? What if she says yes and the ring doesn't fit? What if she doesn't like the ring? What if…_

"Evan are you ok?" she asked him. He shook his head to clear it and turned to her. "I'm fine. You know just thinking."

"Oh yeah? About what?" _Uh oh. Not good. Have to lie._ He thought frantically. "You know this and that."

"This and that what?" she asked suspiciously.

"A little of this a little of that. Nothing important."

"Uh huh. I see." She said looking at him impishly. "Just for the record I don't believe you." He just smiled at her and then looked out the window again.

They soon landed in Venice and collected their luggage. They checked into their hotel. Deciding to go for a walk to have a look around, Laura was really starting to get worried about Lorne, as he had barely said a word since their conversation on the plane.

"Are you ok?" she asked him while trying the link they shared. Getting nothing from the link she frowned. _This is really weird. Oh no! What if he wants to dump me? He's brought me to Venice to just dump me! What did I do to deserve this? _She thought frantically._ I mean I know I can be difficult sometimes but I can't be that bad surely…_ She stopped suddenly next to the pier that they had walked down and folded her arms. "Hey!" Lorne turned and looked at her. The sun had turned the sky red and orange behind her. The last rays of light bounced off her brown hair, it seemed to illuminate her. She looked absolutely stunning. He continued to look at her as he absentmindedly thumbed the ring in his pocket. Her voice brought him back to reality with a thump.

"Hey! Didn't you hear what I just asked you?" she demanded.

"What?"

"Typical. You bring me out here to dump me and you haven't even got the decency to tell me why!" she shrieked at him. He looked up in surprise.

"No. No. I didn't bring you here to dump you." He said holding her hands in his.

"Then why are you completely ignoring me? Is it because of what I said to your mother? Have I done something wrong? What? You have to tell me so that I can fix it." _Here goes nothing._ He laughed at her and kissed her before saying, "I didn't bring you here to dump you. I brought you here so that I could do this." He looked at her and dropped to one knee. She looked at him in surprise. "Laura. Will you marry me?" he asked her. She tilted her head to one side and stood still for a couple of seconds her face unreadable. Lorne was starting to get worried when he cleared his throat. Her face broke into a smile and she said, "Yes. I would love to marry you." He jumped up and took a hold of her waist and lifted her up, spinning her at the same time. He finally let her down and they kissed for the longest time. Pulling apart for air she turned to him and said, "Is this what has been bothering you? Were you afraid I would say no?"

"Yeah I was actually. I've been trying to decide where to propose more than anything."

"What do you mean where? Venice is perfect." She asked him confusedly.

"Well I didn't know whether to ask you here or in Sydney."

"Sydney? We're going to Sydney?" she asked shocked. He just looked at her and smiled. "Yes we are." Laura grabbed his head and pulled him into another kiss and they headed back to the hotel.

A/N: Sorry this has taken so long to update. What did you think of the proposal?


	34. The routine starts

Mia woke up bright and early the following day. Rodney had been discharged and told to change his eating habits. Mia had set her alarm on her watch for half past seven so that she could shower and change before she had to wake Rodney up. She quickly showered and got dressed. She walked into the little kitchen that was in Rodney's room, he had somehow managed to get a room with a kitchen, and tapped her earpiece. It was almost eight in the morning.

"Uncle John?"

"What is it Mia?" asked John.

"Are you and everyone going offworld today?" she asked him.

"Yes. Why?" he asked puzzled.

"What time?"

"Nine. Why?" he asked again.

"Oh I just want to make sure that uncle Mer is dressed appropriately. Ok. See you later. Gotta go." She said and switched it off before John could reply. She got out Rodney's favourite cup and filled it with four spoonfuls of coffee while she boiled the kettle. Once it had finished boiling she poured the steaming water into the cup and stirred as she walked up to Rodney's bed. She sat on her knees and waved the coffee cup under his nose. Within a couple of minutes Rodney was slowly waking up. "What's that smell?" he asked groggily.

"Coffee. Come on. Up." Mia replied. Rodney grunted. Mia rolled her eyes and said, "Come on uncle Mer. You have to shower and then get your breakfast."

"What time is it?" he asked her while taking the coffee from her hand.

"Nearly ten past eight. Come on. I will start your shower. Then you'll have ten minutes to shower and five to get ready." She said getting up and heading towards the little bathroom.

"Who died and made you boss?" he muttered. Then he heard the sound of water running. She came back out and smiled.

"Hurry up. We don't want to be late."

"Alright, alright already. I'm up, I'm up. Jeez. What about my coffee? I haven't finished it yet." She just tilted her head to the side and gave him a look. Sighing loudly he said, "Fine." He walked into the kitchen and tipped the last little bits of his coffee down the sink. Mia looked at her watch, "You have five minutes to shower now uncle Mer."

"WHAT!" he screeched as he ran into the little shower. As he was showering Mia got out his offworld clothes. This included his gun holster and tac vest and placed them on the bed ready for when he came out. Mia was in the kitchen tidying when he came out of the shower. "Your clothes are all ready out. Come on. Hurry up." She whined at him. He mumbled something that she didn't quite catch and she carried on tidying. Rodney came into the little kitchen in his clothes and she said, "Finally. Breakfast now uncle Mer."

"I don't eat breakfast."

"You do now. Come on." Mia said dragging Rodney by the hand out of the door. He grumbled all the way to the mess hall, where the rest of the team were waiting. She pulled him into the line and said, "No bacon. You either have cereal or scrambled eggs, with a piece of fruit, a bottle of water and a cup of coffee." Rodney looked at her in disgust. "Don't look at me like that. That's what the lady doctor said."

"I'll be having words with her." He grumbled as he picked up a plate of scrambled egg, an apple, a bottle of water and his second cup of coffee that morning. He trudged over to the table where Ronan, John and Teyla were sitting, Mia wasn't far behind him. John noticed immediately that Rodney looked grumpy.

"Good morning sunshine!" he said cheerfully. McKay just scowled at him. "Good morning Mia."

"Good morning uncle John, aunty Teyla, uncle Ronan."

"Morning. What's with him?" asked Ronan.

"I made him get up before nine. Oh and I told him he couldn't have bacon." Replied Mia while eating her cereal. John looked on in shock.

"You got him up _and_ told him what to eat?" he asked dumbfounded. Mia nodded. "Hm…could this be about what the doc said about him the night you found him?" Mia nodded again. McKay looked scandalised, "What was said? Mia what have you done?" Mia looked up innocently.

"Nothing uncle Mer." Rodney rounded on John, "Sheppard? What was said?" John decided to play dumb, if Mia was on a personal mission to make sure McKay got his three meals a day and make him eat more healthily he wasn't about to stand in the way. "I have no idea McKay. Sorry."

"Your all against me. I will find out you know." Rodney muttered.

"No you won't. Now shut up and finish your breakfast." Mia said. She looked at her watch and said, "Its almost nine. What time will you be back?"

"Er…we should be back by four as usual. Why?" asked John. Mia shrugged her shoulders and said, "Just curious." They all stood up to leave and Mia said, "Uncle John can I ask a favour please?"

"Yeah. You go ahead. I'll be down in a minute." He said to the other three. McKay looked between Mia and John and said, "I will find out. Mia behave." He said and she rolled her eyes before turning to John, "Could you please make sure that he eats a power bar at 11 and 3? And that he has an MRE at 1?" John looked confused before saying, "Yeah I can do that. What's all this about Mia?"

"I want him to eat properly so that I don't find him cold. I've come up with a routine so that he doesn't miss any meals. Is that bad?" she asked him. John chuckled.

"No. That's not bad. It's about time he started to look after himself. What are you going to be doing today?" he asked her.

"Dr Radek said I could help him. And then miss Elizabeth is going to teach me about dipsomething."

"Diplomacy?"

"Yes that's it. Then I'm going to start my training with your marines." She smiled widely at his reaction.

"WHAT?" he asked in shock. Mia just grinned wickedly before saying, "Have a good mission uncle John. See you back at four." She walked out of the mess and headed towards the labs. John stood there for a few more minutes before his earpiece screeched to life, "Sheppard! Where the hell are you?" demanded McKay.

"Coming." He headed out of the mess hall and ran towards the gate room with a confused look on his face.

"What?" McKay said. John shrugged and said, "Nothing. Come on lets go."


	35. Back to Atlantis

Laura looked at Evan and smiled.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just smiling." She said smiling even more. He looked at her and said, "What?" Laura looked at him as innocently as she could.

"Will you stop that?" he asked her.

"Stop what?"

"Staring. Its very unsettling." He replied as he put their clothes away. They had just arrived in Sydney and Laura had been acting very strange since they had landed. Laura just sat back and watched him. Smiling. _Stop it. _

_Stop what? I can't help it if I find you putting clothes away sexy._ Evan turned and looked at her in disbelief. "Are you kidding?" Laura shook her head, "Nope." She said and grinned wickedly. He looked at her and turned back to the unpacking. She was now fidgeting. _What?_

"Huh?"

"You're fidgeting. Now what's wrong?" he asked her.

"Nothing. I'm just…I don't know. I wanna go back to Atlantis and tell everyone our good news. That's all. I wonder how Mia is going to take it?" she mused.

"Mia's fine with it. And everyone on Atlantis knows…" he suddenly straightened and turned and looked at Laura sheepishly.

"What do you mean? They all ready know? Mia's fine with it?" she said slightly annoyed. Lorne looked at his feet and shifted uncomfortably.

"Well…I asked Mia what she thought about me asking before I asked. She's very protective of you, you know. And McKay for some reason." He said shaking his head and then ploughed on, "I also made the mistake of telling John that I was gonna ask and how I should go about it and all that. He told Teyla…Teyla told Elizabeth and then it was right round Atlantis. I'm surprised you didn't find out before I asked to be honest." Laura sat there in silence for a little while watching Lorne squirm. She took a deep breath and said, "Well…contrary to what men seem to think not all women are gossipers…" she trailed off when she saw the look Evan was giving her. Rolling her eyes she continued, "That explains a lot actually. Many people kept coming up to me and saying congratulations, which I didn't understand. It also explains why you and Mia were being so secretive." She narrowed her eyes at him and then said, "And why Teyla wasn't allowed to talk to me for any length of time without John being present." She stood up suddenly and pounced on Lorne giggling. "Well…" he stammered. She looked at him and kissed him passionately.

Back on Atlantis McKay was getting annoyed.

"Mia. Leave me alone." He snarled at her.

"No. You have to eat now." She said. He sighed deeply. He turned and looked at her, "Mia. I know you mean well but you have to let me work. Do you understand?"

"Yes." She said sadly and left the lab. Zelenka and Sheppard had walked into the lab to hear him snapping at Mia.

"You know McKay. She's only looking out for your best interests." Sheppard said. McKay scowled at him. "I am well aware of that. I just thought she would get bored after a week. In fact I think she is bored."

"You know…" Zelenka started but stopped when he saw the look on McKay's face. Sheppard left Zelenka and McKay to bicker about their new project and went to find Mia. He soon found her in the rec room watching _Farscape_.

"What you watchin Mia?" he asked her. She jumped, as she hadn't heard him come in. "Something called Farscape Would you like to join me uncle John?"

"Yeah why not." He said sitting down next to her. He was soon lost on what was going on. He cleared his throat, "Er…Mia? What season is this?"

"Three." She replied without taking her eyes off the screen.

"Oh. How long have you been watching this?"

"About three weeks. I'm bored and there's nothing else to do." She muttered sadly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I'm not allowed to spar with anyone coz I'm too little. I'm not allowed in the labs in case I break something. I'm just bored. The only thing that I do is make sure uncle Mer eats properly and even he's getting fed up of me."

"Hm…well don't take it personally from McKay. He's just grumpy coz he knows your right. As for the sparring…wait here don't go anywhere ok?"

"Uncle Mer is a frelling idiot. Ok uncle John." John smiled and hurried out of the rec room.

He soon found who he was looking for. "Ah Teyla. How young are the Athosians when they start to learn to spar?"

"Er…around eight. Why John?" she asked him confused.

"Do you think you would be able to start teaching Mia? She's getting bored and she's watching _Farscape_."

"Certainly John." She said and then thought for a moment before she added, "What is a _Farscape_?"

"I'm not sure. Some Earth TV programme. I really don't know to be honest. Ask Mia." He said laughing and going out of the gym and headed towards the labs again. He walked into McKay's lab and pulled him out by the sleeve of his lab coat.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded trying to pull his arm out of John's grip.

"You are a frelling idiot. You know that right?" John stated.

"What? Have you been watching _Farscape_?" John stopped suddenly. He turned to McKay angry. "You gave Mia that show didn't you?"

"Yes. It was the only thing that could keep her occupied. She was bothering me." John looked incredulous.

"She was _bothering_ you! She's just trying to help you. Let her. It's not a bad thing you know McKay. Jesus. Look at her." He pointed through the window of the rec room. McKay looked through and saw that Mia was so engrossed in the TV that she hadn't noticed a bunch of marines go in and watch it with her.

"So?" he asked.

"She's miserable because you wouldn't have tea with her. How hard is it to have tea with the one person on this base who actually _wants_ to be around you?"

"What do you mean? The only person on this base?" McKay asked offended.

"McKay at the best of times people rarely want to be around you coz you're sarcastic and arrogant. This little girl wants to learn from you and help you. Now I can choose to leave if you start ranting at me. But that little girl sitting there watching _Farscape_ only wants to be around you. Instead you choose to snap at her and upset her. Now I want you to go in there and say your sorry and go and have tea with her." John finished pushing Rodney towards the door.

"But…but…"

"But what?"

"What if she interrupts me when we're in the middle of a crisis? Just for food."

"She won't. She's not stupid McKay. Now go. Oh and tell her she starts stick fighting training with Teyla on Monday. Tell her you set it up." Before Rodney could reply John pushed McKay into the room. He walked back to the window to watch. As soon as McKay had entered the room Mia had stopped watching the TV and was listening to Rodney tell her the news about the sparring. She jumped into his arms and he carried her out towards the mess hall.

John had waited for a little while before heading to the mess hall himself. He was halfway there when the alarms started going off and Chuck announced "Offworld activation!" John hurried towards the control room knowing that there was no-one offworld at the minute. Fearing the worst he jumped down the steps and took a P-90 off the nearest marine and taking the safety off ready to use.

"IDC?" he shouted to Chuck. Chuck waited a couple of seconds before answering, "It's the SGC."

"The SGC? Why?" he asked Elizabeth as she came down the steps and stopped just next to him.

"Everyone is coming back early. As I am to understand it Laura and Lorne got bored and wanted to come back and announce some news." She said chuckling. John sighed and gave the P-90 back to the marine and waited. Lorne, Laura and Beckett came through the gate grinning like Cheshire cats. Laura walked up to John and Elizabeth and gave them a big hug. "I've missed you both." Before waiting for a reply she held out her left hand and went, "Look. Look." John grinned at Lorne over the top of Laura's head as Elizabeth looked at the ring.

"Very nice." She gushed. Laura grinned again. She turned to John and said, "Where's Mia and Rodney? I want to ask him something."

"Mess hall." John answered and Laura headed off towards the mess hall.


	36. Asking McKay something

Laura had only been back on Atlantis for a few days when people started coming up to her and asking when the weddings were taking place. _Weddings?_ She thought to herself. _Oh that reminds me…_she trailed off and left the lab to find John and Teyla. She eventually found them in the mess hall. Spotting them she quickly wondered over.

"Hey. How are you both?"

"Hey Laura. We're good thanks. What's up?" asked John. She blushed slightly realising that she hadn't been at all subtle.

"Er…I was wondering what date you had picked for your wedding?" Teyla looked puzzled for a second before replying, "Don't you mean our wedding?"

"Our wedding?" Laura asked confused. John suddenly realised what had happened when he said, "Don't you know?"

"Know what?" Laura asked getting decidedly worried.

"We're having a double wedding." He announced.

"We are?"

"Yes. Is that ok for you?" asked Teyla.

"Er…yeah. As long as I'm not intruding on your big day Teyla."

"You are not. I like the idea."

"Oh. Ok." Laura smiled and turned to John, "Who's your best man?"

"Ronan. Why?" replied John. Laura turned to Teyla.

"Teyla, who is giving you away?"

"I was going to ask Dr Beckett. Why?" Laura smiled even more and said, "Coz I want to ask Rodney to give me away. It would mean a lot to me."

"Are you serious?" asked John flabbergasted.

"Yes. Why?"

"Because he won't do it. We've already asked him." John said.

"Well, I'm gonna ask him anyway." Laura said.

"Ok. Your funeral." John said sarcastically. Laura rolled her eyes and said, "We'll see. See you guys later." She waved and headed for McKay's lab.

She knocked on his open door and said, "Rodney? Can I talk to you for a sec?" Rodney looked up annoyed, "Is it important?" he snapped.

"Yes. Well it is to me at least."

"Fine. Come in. What can I help you with?" Laura suddenly got very nervous and began shuffling her feet. She did this for so long that McKay sighed loudly and said, "Well spit it out! I haven't got all day you know." Snapping her out of her little trance she said, "Sorry. Anyways I was wondering…if you would givemeaway?" she rushed the last part and dipped her head waiting for him to answer. She eventually looked up thinking he hadn't heard and she saw him sitting there in total shock.

"Rodney?" she asked concerned.

"W…w…why?" he asked eventually.

"Why what?" she asked confused again. _This is getting to be an annoying habit._

"Why me?" Laura smiled at him before replying, "Because I want you to. I know we didn't get on when we first met…"

"Tell me about it." He mumbled and then motioned for her to continue. She took a couple of deep breaths.

"Well over the last couple of years I've come to realise how important you are to Atlantis and everyone on the expedition. I'd like to think that we've become friends…" she took another deep breath and carried on before he could interrupt her again. "Also you and Mia get on really well. But most importantly it would mean a lot to me. So will you?" Laura asked again. As he answered her the alarm went off. He hurried out the door after whispering his answer in her ear leaving her shocked.

A/N: So what does everyone think his answer will be? Sorry its been taking me awhile to update. But I've been having really bad writers block. I'm actually writing a different part of the story at the same time lol.


	37. Something Old

_Something old, we still need something old. Does Teyla want something old? Or is she going to do some Athosian tradition thing? Should really ask her. What's that?_ Someone was tugging on Laura's jacket startling her from her daydream. She looked around and seeing no-one she looked down and saw Mia.

"Yes Mia?"

"I'm here for my lesson." Mia said. Mia had decided that she wanted to have lessons on everything a few months earlier. Rodney, or uncle Mer as she called him, was teaching her science when he wasn't saving the city or offworld. If any of these events were taking place Radek was teaching her as long as he wasn't busy. Beckett was teaching her basic first aid, Teyla was teaching her stick fighting, Elizabeth was teaching her diplomacy and Laura was teaching her languages. John and Ronan were going to teach her hand-to-hand combat, flying and weapons training respectfully when she was older. At the moment John was perfectly happy making sure she was happy and having fun. He was also teaching her football which she seemed to enjoy. This all depended of course on times of missions and whatever crisis the city was in. This also depended on whether or not Mia could get Rodney up on time for his breakfast. Mia had set up a routine so that Rodney would have three meals a day as well as a snack every couple of hours and minimum of eight hours sleep a night (though this usually fell to John to do as she was asleep by midnight). Everyone seemed to be pleased by this routine because it meant that someone was getting through to the scientist. If anyone tried this he would snap at them except for Mia and his team. This was because Mia couldn't go offworld with them. So she had entrusted John with the task of making sure he got his snack and meal when they were offworld. Rodney understood this but still complained about it.

Laura and Mia had been speaking Ancient for the last few hours when Mia's watch beeped.

"What's that?" Laura asked. She was still very confused when it came to the routine.

"Time for the team to come home. I always go to the control room to see that they get home ok. Sometimes Chuckles lets me lower the shield providing there isn't any trouble. Then I have an hour of TV and at 5 I collect uncle Mer for tea." One thing had caught Laura's attention.

"Who's Chuckles Mia?" Laura asked puzzled.

"Chuck. The gate technician." Mia stated.

"But why do you call him Chuckles if you know his name is Chuck?"

"Because he is always smiling and laughing." Laura was about to ask another question and Mia answered before Laura could ask, "He doesn't mind. I'm off mam. See you later." Mia left the lab with a wave leaving Laura in shock.

Sitting down to tea everyone was talking when Laura said, "What can I use for something old?"

"Atlantis." Rodney said. Everyone looked at him in surprise, "What? Isn't 10,000 years old not old enough?" he asked snarkily.

"I never thought of that. Thanks Rodney." Laura smiled at him and they began eating when Laura stopped and said, "Now I need something new." The group let out a groan and Laura started laughing before saying, "Just kidding. I already know what my something new is."

A/N: Sorry for the shortness. But I really wanna get past the weddings and what not so that I can get to some adventure etc.


	38. Something New

The two of them were seated in the mess hall waiting for Laura. She had asked that they meet her at six. She was now running late. A couple of minutes later Laura came into the mess hall out of breath.

"So glad you could all be here. Sorry I'm late."

"Why are we here?" asked Cadman. Laura smiled at her impatience.

"Your all here because I want to ask you something."

"What is it?" asked Teyla.

"I want to go to Earth to get my wedding dress. I would like the both of you to come with me." Laura grinned at the shock on their faces.

"I do not think I can go. I have my responsibilities to the team and to my people." Teyla said sounding a little disappointed. Laura frowned and said, "Teyla. Don't worry. You won't be gone that long. Besides wouldn't you like to visit Earth?"

"Yes. I do. But…" Laura looked at her and said, "No buts Teyla. You don't have to get a wedding dress if you don't want to. You could probably even see what all the fuss is about Ferris Wheels." Laura grinned.

"Ok. I will come. Laura are you coming?" Teyla asked Cadman.

"Yeah I am. Although I'm not sure why." Cadman answered uncertainly.

"You're coming because you are one of my best friends and one of my bridesmaids."

"Oh ok then. When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow. And we will be back on the next _Daedalus_ run." Laura said grinning again. They sat talking for a little while longer about the weddings and what kind of dresses they would be wearing. It was soon midnight and Laura said, "Well I'm going to get some sleep. See you both tomorrow."

"Good night Laura." Teyla said.

"Night."

The next morning the three women walked through the wormhole back to Earth.

"Wow." Teyla said in amazement. "I have never seen anything like this. Is all of your planet like this?" Cadman chuckled and said, "No. We're a few miles under the ground. Once we get to the surface you'll be even more surprised." Teyla stood next to Cadman and didn't leave her side until all three of them had been checked out and escorted to the surface by Daniel. He had welcomed them at the ramp and congratulated Laura on her engagement. The three women stayed in a little motel just outside of Colorado and tomorrow they were going to go to New York to look for wedding dresses and bridesmaids' dresses.

The following afternoon they were landing in New York and heading towards the hotel that they had been booked into.

"So where to?" Cadman asked Laura who grinned like a kid at Christmas.

"Well…let's get something to eat and then tomorrow we can start looking for dresses? What do you think Teyla?"

"Yes. This sounds like an idea." She replied in total amazement. She looked like deer caught in headlights. They headed downstairs and had some traditional New York food and Teyla seemed to enjoy her food immensely.

"It is a shame that we cannot have this food back at home." She said.

"Yeah. I must admit I do miss this kind of normal food." Replied Cadman nodding her head in agreement. Laura just smiled at her two best friends. She had been thinking about her wedding dress since they had landed in New York. She knew exactly what she wanted. After a few hours the girls went back upstairs to their rooms and got some sleep as they were going to have a long day ahead of them. However Laura couldn't sleep.

Back on Atlantis Lorne had joined Sheppard's team filling in for Teyla while she was on Earth. They were on a routine mission for Sheppard's team. When they had landed in the puddle jumper on the normal looking planet it looked uninhabited and they were looking at it as a possible secondary Alpha site. As they had flown around the planet checking for life signs they had unwittingly awoken a beast that was not something that they had come across in the Pegasus Galaxy. As they exited the jumper Rodney was griping, "All I'm saying is why do we have to be the ones to come and check out this planet? Its not like there's any trade opportunities here or the possibility of a ZPM."

"McKay. Shut up. We're here because Weir told us to come here. If it's any help I don't want to be here either. Look lets just look around and then go back home." Sheppard said annoyed. He was really getting sick of hearing McKay complaining. Ronan suddenly went rigid and armed his blaster. Sheppard strolled up to him and said, "What is it?"

"I don't know. There's something out here though."

"Ok. Lets get back to the jumper and radio Atlantis." As he finished speaking a low roar could be heard in the distance and Lorne froze.

"I know that sound. We have to get out of here right now." Sheppard turned to look at him.

"Why?"

"That roar belongs to an unas. Trust me you do not wanna get on the wrong side of these species without Daniel Jackson around." He gulped and shifted his feet uncomfortably. Sheppard looked at him for a moment and realisation hit him. He had read many of the mission reports from the SGC when he had been stationed there in the month preceding the start of the expedition. He remembered reading a mission report of Daniel's regarding the unas. Daniel had made friends with one and was asked to go to a mining excavation or something and there been lots of unas around. It was his first meeting of the major and he had managed to get on the wrong side of Daniel for moving some artefacts. This was not Lorne's doing but the CO in charge of the mining. He also remembered reading that a unas had taken one of the team and they had found him pierced to death and strung up like a scarecrow causing Lorne to throw up. Lorne had never really recovered from it and had asked to be reassigned after the mining was complete. That was how he came to be on Atlantis. Sheppard looked at his second in command and said, "Right. Lets go home folks. Considering we don't have a Daniel Jackson to hand I don't think this planet is going to be very good for a second Alpha site." He looked at McKay and said "Don't start." McKay stood opening and closing his mouth a fish out of water as he followed the rest of the team towards the jumper.

Back on Earth Laura had barely slept she was so excited about finding her wedding dress that she had only grabbed a couple of hours. She knew she would catch up once she got back to Atlantis so she wasn't too fussed. Teyla and Cadman got up just as room service arrived, Laura had ordered pretty much everything on the menu as she didn't know what the other two liked and disliked.

"What's all this?" Cadman asked yawning.

"Breakfast. I didn't know what the two of you liked so I got one of everything." Laura replied. Teyla inclined her head and sat down ready to eat. Once they had all eaten, showered and dressed they left the hotel in the search of Laura's wedding dress. They had been wondering around New York for about four hours looking in different shops and trying on different dresses when Laura announced, "I'm hungry."

"I believe all of us are hungry." Teyla said smiling.

"Ok. Lets go and get something to eat. Where should we go?" Cadman asked.

"How about just a random coffee place?" Laura said. They nodded in agreement and walked to the nearest coffee place. As they walked in the place had a welcome feel to it and had seats next to the window and a couple of tables in front of the seats. Stepping down Laura noticed that there was some tables with high seats dotted around and directly in front of her was a sofa, a big comfy chair to the left and to the right a round table with a single chair. _Hm…this looks familiar_ she thought to herself. Shaking her head they sat down on the sofa and Laura went to the counter that was just off to the side from the sofa. She ordered three coffees' and three chocolate chip muffins. She walked back over to the couch and said, "Does this place look familiar to anyone else?" Cadman looked around and said, "Now that you've said that it does a little bit. But I can't place my finger on why."

"It does not look familiar to me." Teyla said with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Meh. Don't worry about it." Laura smiled and dove into her muffin. Once they had all finished they went back out into the hustle and bustle of New York on the hunt for dresses. They had been wondering around when Laura spotted a bridal shop. "Over there." Laura said pointing to the shop. They walked over to it and stepped inside. The place was huge and it had every kind of bridesmaid and wedding dress anyone could possibly imagine. Laura walked over to the wedding dresses while Cadman and Teyla looked at the bridesmaids' dresses. Laura smiled to herself as she picked up a dress that she really liked. It was a long dress that easily covered her feet. It looked very elegant with exposed shoulders but long sleeves. She checked the size and went to try it on. She had no problem getting into the dress and looked herself in the mirror; she smiled as she imagined Evan's face when he saw her in this particular dress. She walked out to the front of the shop and said, "Teyla? Cadman? What do you think?" Teyla and Cadman turned around and said, "Wow. That is the dress for you." Laura smiled and said, "Do you really think so?" They both nodded their heads enthusiastically as if they were one of those toys that nodded its head that sat on the shelf in the back of a car. "Have you guys found anything you like?" Cadman pulled out a dark green dress that was also long and elegant. It had thickish straps and it seemed to gather near the neckline. "Go and try it on then." Laura said excitedly. She really liked the colour and it would go really well with her own white dress. "What about you Teyla?" she asked the little Athosian.

"I am having my dress made for my by my friends. It is a tradition." Laura nodded her head and said, "Ah. I'm going to go and change. Won't be long." Laura disappeared back into the changing rooms and got out of the dress. She came back out holding it and walked over to the woman behind the cash register.

"I would like buy this dress now." She said to the woman. The woman looked at her in shock.

"Right now?"

"Yes."

"This dress is 10,000 dollars." Laura rolled her eyes and said, "I don't care. I want this dress right now." The woman made a noise in the back of her throat and wrapping up the dress so that it wouldn't get damaged. Laura had been looking towards the changing rooms waiting for Cadman to come out when the woman said, "How would you like pay?" Laura handed over her credit card. The woman rang it through and within a couple of minutes Laura was clutching her new dress as if it was a lifeline. Cadman came out and she looked stunning in the dark green dress.

"Take it off and I'll pay for it then." Laura said giggling. Cadman rolled her eyes and went back into the changing rooms only to come out a couple of minutes later. Laura took the dress off her and went and paid for it. They were all standing outside of the shop and Laura turned to the others, "Well now I've got my something new." She laughed and Teyla and Cadman joined in.


	39. Something Borrowedsort of

When the girls arrived back on Atlantis, Evan, Rodney, John and Mia were waiting for them. Laura noticed that Evan looked pale. She smiled at them and hid her dress behind her back so that none of them could see.

_You ok?_ Evan looked at her sadly and didn't say anything. She frowned and turned to Cadman, "Would you be able to keep my dress in your quarters?"

"Yeah no problem." Cadman took the dress from Laura and left the gateroom and headed for her quarters. Laura noticed that Rodney was staring where Cadman had just been standing and then he had followed her out with his eyes. Laura made a mental note and turned her attention back to Evan. She tilted her head and looked at him worriedly. Mia walked up to her and said, "Dads been like that since they came back off the mission. I've tried asking uncle Mer what's the matter with him but he wouldn't tell me." Laura frowned and said, "Don't worry. He'll be fine. I promise." She smiled at the girl who was now almost 10. Laura turned to John and Teyla and said, "Teyla could I borrow John for a sec?"

"Certainly." Teyla smiled and walked towards their quarters. Evan still hadn't said a word and left with Teyla. Where he was going was anyone's idea. Laura watched him leave worriedly. She turned to John, "What the hell is wrong with him?" John sighed and told her the whole story. Laura looked worried and said thank you to John before leaving to find Evan. She soon found him in the mess hall staring at his dinner plate. She walked up to him and sat opposite him.

"Evan? I heard about what happened on the planet." He looked up at her and didn't say anything. She took her opportunity to reveal something to him.

"You know…when we met on the _Daedalus_ it wasn't the first time I'd heard about you." He looked at her in shock. "Yeah I know. I didn't realise it was you of course. But I heard about what happened on the planet with the mining operation."

"H…how?" he asked.

"Daniel. He was complaining about some colonel who didn't understand the way he worked or something. Then he started griping about O'Neill. Then he happened to mention a young major who he could tell was a good person and was only following orders." She tilted her head to the side waiting for him to say something. Evan took a deep breath and said, "It was horrible. I mean I'd seen some horrible things in my career but that…was just inhuman. I had nightmares for weeks. Even had to go and see a shrink…I requested a transfer so that I could still go offworld but I was just a normal soldier instead in a specific area. I wouldn't have been able to cope…" he trailed off and looked at her with tears in his eyes. Laura moved around to him and hugged him.

"Come on. You need to get some sleep."

"I can't…"

"Yes you can. I'll be with you. I promise." She smiled warmly at him and led him to their quarters. Once in their quarters she led him to the bed and pushed him onto the bed. She went to the bookcase and picked up a book and settled herself on the bed so that she was comfy. Evan picked up his pillow and placed it on her lap and went to sleep. She ran her fingers through his hair; it was only a little gesture that allowed him to know that she was there.

"Evan?" she called to him but didn't get a response. _Where the hell am I?_ She thought to herself. She looked around and saw that she was on a different planet. _Oh well may as well investigate._ She walked away from the gate and headed down a well-beaten path. She followed it for around a mile when she saw a tent. Puzzled she walked up to it and noticed there was a table with some artefacts sitting on it. She ambled over to it and looked at the objects. _These look familiar. Why?_ She thought to herself. Then she remembered where she had seen them. _Daniel showed me pictures from the mining planet. Crap. I'm in Evan's dream apparently. Really gotta find him._ She walked away from the table and decided to try and find him. She picked a path and walked down it shouting of him. She soon found him next to what appeared to be some sort of shrine with spikes all over it. She approached him carefully.

"Evan?" she said gently and touched his shoulder just as carefully. Evan was staring at it in absolute horror.

"Can't you see him?" he mumbled. She looked at it, yet she couldn't see who he was referring to.

"There's nothing there. Evan come on. You're just dreaming. This isn't real. You're on Atlantis with me." She said softly.

"You can't see him can you? Stuck up there. I have to get him down." He moved to the shrine and started trying to remove the man from the spikes. However what Laura saw was Evan hurting his hands on the spikes. She grabbed him and tried to stop him from doing himself some serious damage to his hands.

"Evan! Stop it. You're scaring me. There's no-one there. This wasn't your fault." She again tried to stop him but he wouldn't. He stopped suddenly and said, "It should have been me that was dragged away. It should have been me."

"Don't be stupid. This wasn't your fault. Evan…" before she could finish her sentence she was being shaken awake.

Mia walked into their quarters and saw that Laura and Evan were sleeping. She smiled at them and went into her own little room. She was happily reading her mothers Harry Potter books when Laura started speaking in her sleep. Curious Mia walked into the main bedroom and listened to what her mother was saying. Confused as to what was going on she waited a little while longer and realised that Evan was also speaking. They were having a conversation with each other. Mia started to panic when Evan started to thrash about and grab at something or someone, from what she had heard. She ran out of the room and headed to the infirmary.

"Uncle Carson…uncle Carson. Something's wrong with mom and dad. Dad's thrashing about. I'm scared." She cried when she had finally found him.

"Come on lass. Lets go and see what I can do." They hurried back towards their quarters when they arrived Laura was shouting at Evan to stop. Seeing that it was Lorne having the actual nightmare Carson decided to wake Laura up to see what was going on. She woke up after a couple of minutes.

"What…?" she asked groggily. She looked at Lorne and stared wide eyed at Carson. "He's having nightmares about that unas planet. The one with the mining operation." Carson sighed. He had read the report after they had come back from the mission and Lorne had been unusually quiet. Carson had asked Sheppard what had happened and he had, had the mission report sent to Atlantis. He had obviously seen Lorne's medical records and had noticed that he had seen a therapist but he had never mentioned it to the colonel. Laura looked at Carson and said, "Can't you do something?"

"No. But I do want to transfer him to the infirmary just to be on the safe side." He tapped his earpiece and asked for a gurney to be brought to Laura's quarters. Carson turned to Mia and said, "Mia why don't you go and get your uncle John. Ask him to come to the infirmary and then go and see your uncle Rodney." Mia looked at Carson for a second before leaving the room. Carson turned to Laura and explained, "I don't think she should be around this and John has a right to know what's going on with him." Laura just nodded from her place on the bed idly stroking Lorne's hair. A couple of minutes the gurney and Ronan arrived. Carson looked at him in surprise.

"I ran into Mia. She seemed worried. Told me what was happening. Thought I could help."

"Aye you can lad. Do you think you will be able to pick him up and place him on the gurney? Even though he's thrashing about like that?" asked the doctor. In answer Ronan walked over to the bed and picked up the thrashing Lorne and placed him on the gurney. While holding his arms at his side as the pushed him towards the infirmary. Once there Beckett sedated the colonel. The thrashing stopped but he was still moving his head about wildly.

Sheppard came running into the infirmary half an hour later. Mia had finally found him and explained what she knew and then she had gone off to see Rodney.

"What's going on?" he asked breathlessly.

"The colonel appears to be having nightmares about the mining operation." Carson replied. Sheppard frowned slightly.

"What do we do?" he asked.

"Well…I don't know if you're going to like this but we need to get him out of it as soon as possible and convince him that it isn't real."

"I've tried. He won't listen to reason. He feels guilty and seems to think that its all his fault and that it should have been him who was dragged off." Laura said.

"What do you mean you've tried?" asked John.

"Well I was in the nightmare with him for a little while. I couldn't see who he was trying to get down. He won't listen to me."

"Well that psychic thing seems to be getting stronger." John muttered. He knew all about trying to live with guilt. He still had nightmares about Sumner. He took a deep breath and let it out, "So what do we do?" he asked.

"Well we could send Laura back in guess. But if he won't listen to her I have no idea how to get him out of this." Beckett said.

"Send me in. I'll see what I can do." Laura said. She climbed onto the bed next to Lorne's and lay back. Carson walked over and administered a sedative. Laura grimaced at the needle and looked away when he injected the sedative. Before she fell asleep she mumbled, "The things I do for this man…its…getting…ridiculous…"

"Now what?" asked John.

"Now we wait. You can sit with them if you want?" Carson replied. John nodded and sat down in between the two beds.

_Here goes. Round two._ Laura walked quickly to the place where she had left Evan. He was now sitting on the ground just staring. He moved his head and looked at her.

"Your back…thought you had left me." Laura shook her head and said, "No. I wouldn't do that to you. Can you move?"

"No. My whole body refuses to move. Can't understand why."

"Beckett gave you a sedative. He was worried you would hurt yourself. With all the thrashing about you were doing." She smiled at him.

"I can still see him up there. Can you get him down?" he asked her. Laura shook her head.

"Evan. There's no-one there. I promise you. Now your really worrying us with this. Especially Mia. She needs her dad. I need you to get over this so that we can get married." She said to him softly. He turned to look at her and managed a weak smile.

"I…I…can't get it out of my head. Its always there." Suddenly another voice said, "Now you know how I feel about Sumner." Laura looked around puzzled, as did Lorne.

"John?" Laura asked. He suddenly stepped out from behind the spiky contraption. He looked at it and then looked at Lorne. He shook his head sadly. There was silence for a few minutes as John made himself comfortable on the other side of Lorne. Laura broke the silence first.

"Not being funny John. But what are you doing here? How did you get here?" she asked puzzled. John shrugged his shoulders.

"No idea. But there must be a reason." Lorne looked at his CO and said, "You're here because I want you here. You're the best CO I've ever had. You wouldn't have made the same mistake the CO made on this mission. You would have listened to Daniel Jackson and taken his advice until they had brokered an agreement with the unas of this planet. If you had been here that scientist would never have been dragged off, killed and then strung up there." Lorne said trying to lift his arm to point at the sacrifice. John sighed and didn't say anything. He had many a run in with colonels who didn't like scientists, he personally liked scientists but this was probably because he understood most of them. Although on occasion he couldn't understand McKay but that was because his brain seemed to work faster than others'. He turned to Lorne and said, "You know this wasn't your fault." Lorne nodded but didn't say anything. "Now I need you to get past this. You have a little girl who is very worried about her daddy." Lorne slumped his shoulders but still didn't say anything. As John was about to try again Lorne turned to him, "You know there was nothing you could have done to save Sumner."

"I have to live with it." John said. He could see that Lorne was trying to draw parallels between the two situations. By doing this he was trying to help his CO as well as himself. John took a deep breath and said, "Lorne I see what you're trying to do. But this is completely different. I killed a commanding officer an unas killed a scientist that you were responsible for."

"Actually the wraith queen killed Sumner. If you hadn't shot him she would have found out about Earth." Lorne muttered. Then Laura said, "OK apparently I now have to try and save both of you. Sheppard…" John looked at her in surprise. She rarely called him Sheppard. "I read the mission report on Sumner. You have to stop carrying this around with you. It wasn't your fault. Lorne you have to stop thinking about this. It wasn't your fault if anyone's at fault it's the colonel who was in charge. Now Sheppard you try and imagine seeing McKay stuck up there. How would you feel? And Lorne you try to imagine having to kill Sheppard over there. How would you feel about that? In the exact same circumstances." Both men sat in silence for a little while. Sheppard was the first to speak.

"It wasn't my fault. I would have accepted it. I think…"

"I would do the exact same thing. I wouldn't carry the guilt though. There was nothing I could have done to save him." Lorne said.

"All this is is survivors guilt. You both know this. Now you need to accept it and forget about it. John you have people around you who care about you and so do you Evan. We're one big happy family. Its time to stop living in the past and start living in the present. Don't forget you learn from the past but you shouldn't be buried by it. Now come on you two. There's plenty to do back home." Laura said standing up and brushing herself down. Lorne and Sheppard looked at each other when Sheppard said, "She's right you know."

"Yeah I know. Come on. Sorry for dragging you into this sir."

"Don't worry about it. Just don't do it again." John replied laughing as they got up.

The three of them woke up together and groaned.

"Well done." Carson said to Laura. Laura smiled and said, "Well it wasn't all me." Laura smiled again at John who didn't say anything. Carson looked at the trio confused and didn't say anything. Laura clapped her hands together and said, "Now I need help to find something borrowed." The three men groaned and she started laughing.

A/N: I know this was a bit of a long-winded chapter. But I thought it was time for Lorne to have a nightmare about that particular mission.


	40. Shoes

It was now almost two weeks until the wedding and Laura seemed to be stressing about the fact that she didn't have something borrowed or something blue. Mia was now on mission to try and make her adoptive mother happy. She had been wondering around trying to think of something blue. Finally giving up she headed for the science labs.

"Hey uncle Mer. Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes Mia. What is it?"

"What could I get mom for her something blue?" McKay stopped and looked up from his laptop and thought to for a couple of minutes. Finally he said, "Has she got her bouquet yet?"

"I am unsure. She scares me when she starts speaking about the wedding." Mia said.

"Well you could always get her a blue bouquet of fake roses." McKay suggested. Mia looked puzzled by this.

"Why fake?" she asked confused.

"Because real flowers make Laura cry." Mia looked at Rodney with a confused look on her face. "How would I get these flowers?" she asked. Rodney chuckled and said, "Don't worry about it. I will sort it out for you."

"Thank you uncle Mer. What about her something borrowed?" Rodney waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about that either. I have that one covered."

"Ok uncle Mer. See you later for dinner." Mia said smiling and left Rodney to his work.

Two weeks later he was walking towards her quarters to pick her up. As he approached he knocked on the door and let himself into her quarters. What he saw was Laura trying to walk in her white shoes, she hadn't noticed him enter, as she was too busy looking at her feet. She had one hand holding up her dress so that she could see her feet and the other hand on a blue rose bouquet. He cleared his throat; she looked up startled, "Hey. Am I late?" she started to walk towards him and stumbled, he caught her before she fell on the floor, "Thanks. These shoes are gonna drive me nuts." He looked around and noticed her white trainers by the door.

"Why don't you wear those? Isn't your dress long enough to cover them so that no-one can see them?" Laura looked up mischievously.

"Never thought of that! Thanks Rodney." She smiled at him and took off her shoes and put on her trainers. She stood up and smiled. "There all done. You ready to go?"

"Yes. I was wondering if you had managed to find something borrowed?" he asked nervously.

"No. I couldn't find anything. Why?" Rodney looked at her and handed her a rectangular velvet box.

"What's this?" Rolling his eyes he said, "Well open it and find out." Laura opened the box. Inside was a beautiful heart shaped necklace with small diamonds embedded into the shape. She looked at Rodney, "Rodney I couldn't possibly…" He held up his hand, "Please. It would mean a lot to me if you would wear it today." He blushed and she walked up to him and gave him a hug. "I would be honoured Rodney." She picked the necklace out of the box and fumbled with the clasp. "Would you mind?" He took the necklace from her hand and fastened it around her neck. She turned around and smiled. She took a deep breath and said, "Should we go?"

"Yeah. But there's one thing I think we should do first."

"What's that?" she asked confused. He walked up to her shoes and picked them up. He held out his hand, she looked at him quizzically before taking his hand and they left her quarters. They ran to the nearest balcony and Rodney handed her, her shoes. "Go on then."

"Go on then what?"

"Throw them in." Laura looked at him happily and handed him one of her shoes. "On three?" Rodney looked at the shoe and said, "OK. One…"

"Two…"

"Three!" They said together and threw the shoes into the ocean. They gripped the railing to stop them from falling over with laughter. After a couple of minutes they stopped laughing and Rodney turned to her and said, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah why not?" Rodney held out his arm and Laura took it and they walked towards the gateroom.


	41. The Weddings

"Will you relax? Your making me nervous!" John snapped at Lorne. Lorne turned to look at him, "I'm sorry. Its just…she's late."

"She's supposed to be late!"

"Not this late!" Lorne looked at his watch again just as the wedding march started up. Lorne looked down the makeshift aisle and what he saw took his breath away. Teyla was wearing a cream coloured dress that had green woven into it around bottom of her sleeves and the bottom of the dress, Carson Beckett was escorting her. Laura was wearing the dress that she had bought in New York. She looked stunning but what surprised him the most was that Rodney McKay, resident egotistical, selfish, astrophysicist, was escorting her down the aisle.

The weddings were being ordained by Elizabeth, when marrying John and Teyla she spoke in Ancient per Teyla's request and spoke in English when marrying Laura and Evan. The ceremonies went by quickly and this meant that they could go and have the big party in the mess hall. Everyone was having a good time when Laura finally sat down. Evan looked at her and said, "How are you doing that?"

"Doing what?" she asked innocently.

"You know all the dancing with everyone in those shoes that you bought for the wedding?" Laura didn't answer but turned to Rodney who had just come over, "What's up Rodney?"

"I was wondering if I could have this dance?" he asked sheepishly. As she walked past Evan she lifted her dress slightly so that she flashed him a look of her trainers and winked at him when he looked up scandalised.

A couple of weeks later Laura was walking towards Rodney's lab holding the little rectangular velvet box. She knocked on the lab door.

"Yes what?" he snapped without looking up.

"You ok?" she asked him. He looked up. "Oh its you."

"Yeah. It's me. I just came by to…uh…return this. I got it cleaned which is why I haven't given it back before now." She handed him the box and he said, "Thanks. You didn't have to have it cleaned."

"It was no…"

"What do you want Cadman?" Rodney snapped. Laura turned around and saw Cadman standing there looking sheepish. She looked at Rodney and then back at Cadman. Rodney had gone very nervous all of a sudden.

"What's wrong with you two?" Rodney practically jumped a mile when Laura spoke.

"Uh…uh…I was…uh…" Cadman stammered. Laura laughed and said as she was leaving, "I'll leave you two to it."


	42. Just the flu

"What time you going offworld?" Laura asked Evan. Before he could reply Laura bolted from their bedroom and went into the bathroom to throw up. She had been doing this for a while and Evan was starting to get concerned.

"Are you alright?" Laura didn't reply and he continued, "Because this is why I'm on Sheppard's team. Teyla seems to have come down with something as well. You might have caught it. Why don't you see Beckett?" Laura nodded and continued to throw up. "Right I'm going to go and tell Beckett that your coming to see him once you've stopped throwing up." Evan was almost at the door when Laura emerged.

"You will do no such thing. I will go by myself thank you." They had been married a couple of years and Evan knew when to argue and when not to. This was one of those times where you didn't argue.

"Alright. Just promise me that you will go and see Beckett. I'm worried." He said placing a hand on the side of her face. She tilted her head so that her face was resting in his hand and said, "I promise. In fact I will go and see him before you go offworld."

"Thank you." He leaned forward and kissed her on the top of her head and said, "Right I'm off to the gym. Sheppard wants to spar with me."

"Why?" she asked confused.

"Well he's just as worried about Teyla as I am about you. So he wants someone to spar with." Laura nodded and headed back towards the bathroom. Evan laughed and went to the gym.

Laura headed towards the infirmary she was really fed up of throwing up. When she got there she saw Teyla already being examined by Dr Beckett. Laura sat down and waited. A couple of minutes later Beckett came out and seemed to be very excited about something, Teyla looked shocked.

"Carson?" Laura said. He turned around, "Yes dear?"

"I'm not feeling well. I was wondering if you could look me over?"

"Ok. Get up on the bed. Lets have a look at you." Laura sat on the bed and answered all of his questions before he looked at her with a smile.

"Well you don't have the flu. Your pregnant."

_What? I can't be pregnant. Holy crap!_

Lorne was busily trying to clip his P90 to his vest when he stopped and suddenly looked up and said, "Oh my god!" He handed Sheppard his P90 and took off towards the infirmary. Sheppard stood there and said, "What?"

Lorne rushed into the infirmary out of breath. He looked at Laura and said, "Really?" Laura shrugged her shoulders and said, "Apparently." She grinned at him and he rushed over to her and hugged her tightly. He quickly let go and said, "I didn't hurt you did I?" Laura looked at him in confusion, "What?" Evan pointed at her stomach and Laura understood, "No. I'm fine." She turned her attention to Beckett and said, "Can I go now?"

"Yes lass. But I want to do a check-up on you in a couple of weeks make sure everything's ok." Laura mock saluted Beckett and was almost out the door when she said, "Yes doc. Oh hi John. You ok?" she asked John as he had just appeared at the infirmary wanting to know where Lorne had got to.

"John?" Teyla said from behind the curtain. John looked startled he wasn't expecting Teyla to be in the infirmary.

"You ok?"

"I am. I have some news." She said as she appeared from around the curtain. John looked positively scared. "What is it?"

"I am also pregnant." John looked confused and happy all at the same time.

"Also? Who else?" Laura and Evan had been watching from the doorway. Laura responded first, "Oh that would be me. Twins." She said without thinking. Everyone turned to stare at her.

"Twins?" Evan asked startled. Beckett cleared his throat. "Er…Laura…we've only just found out your pregnant. How do you know its twins?" he asked confusedly. She looked around and decided to try and see if anyone would bet on it.

"Well I think I'm having twins. What does everyone else think? I might even guess at the sex as well." She said grinning.

"Oh I'll take some of that action." John said giddily. "I think you'll have twin girls. Lorne?" Evan turned and looked at Evan who was still in shock. "Er…well I think we'll be having a baby boy."

"Ok then. I think I'm having twin boys." Laura said happily and walked out the infirmary.

A/N: So sorry it's taken me so long to update but I've been moving house and my friend has been looking over my shoulder. So sorry. Hope you like this chapter. Also a big thank you to all the reviewers please keep em coming.


	43. Hormonal

Laura had been getting irritable for the last couple of months and was snapping at everyone. She had scared Mia so much that Mia was now living with McKay…again. Evan walked into the lab and stood there. Laura was now massive and she could barely get close to her desk. Evan cleared his throat. Laura turned on him, "What?" she demanded.

"Have you thought that maybe you should now be resting instead of making assistants cry?" Laura looked around, "I don't see any crying assistants. Do you?" she demanded.

"That's because they are all hiding from you. Most of them are now avoiding the lab. Also they keep coming up to me demanding that I make you leave the lab and not come back until you've had the twins."

"Well what do you think?" Laura asked him, then added, "Answer carefully if you know what's good for you." Evan just looked at her and then left the doorway. "Where the hell are you going!" Laura shouted after him. Evan heard her screaming after him but ignored her and headed towards the infirmary. He was really hoping it wouldn't have resorted to this but he had no choice. People were beginning to think that Laura and Rodney had swapped personalities. It was frightening. Lorne walked through the infirmary doors to see Sheppard sitting on a bed nursing a sore knee. "What happened to you sir?" Lorne asked him. Sheppard winced and said, "Teyla." Lorne nodded and said, "Ah." Teyla was also very cranky and hormonal but at least Laura was easier to deal with she wasn't lethal with sticks…yet. Lorne walked to Beckett's office door and knocked.

"Colonel? Is everything alright?" Beckett asked him. Lorne shook his head, "No."

"What is it lad?"

"Laura."

"Hormonal is she?" asked Beckett trying his hardest not to laugh.

"HORMONAL?" Lorne bellowed suddenly, "There's crying assistants…again. People think that her and McKay have swapped personalities. Hell even McKay is scared of her! Do something!" he begged the doctor.

"Alright. It appears I have two people to visit." Just then Sheppard said from the doorway, "Best take reinforcements and Ronan. Just in case." Lorne nodded in agreement. Beckett looked at them and said, "Are you two offering?" Lorne looked at Sheppard and Sheppard looked at Lorne and they both turned to Beckett and said, "HELL NO!"

Beckett had been looking for the girls for around an hour when he finally found them in the mess hall. They were sitting near the windows laughing. Beckett swallowed and walked over to the women. "Laura. Teyla. How are you both feeling?" he asked suddenly nervous. He knew what both women were capable of. Teyla looked at Laura and Laura just nodded.

"We are both fine Dr Beckett. Shouldn't we be?" she asked sweetly. Teyla doing anything sweetly just wasn't normal. "Well I've been hearing things lately that the two of you are…how can I put this? A little temperamental?" he said and backed away slightly. This just made the girls laugh harder. He was starting to lose patience now. "What's so bloody funny?" he demanded, he turned to Teyla, "I've got your husband in my infirmary nursing a sore knee." He turned to Laura, "And I've got assistants on the verge of a nervous breakdown, not to mention a very frightened husband asking for help. Also in the infirmary." Laura just started to laugh and then looked at Carson before stopping and saying, "We're sorry Carson. Honest. But you have to understand those husbands you feel so sorry for have for the past six months have been like overbearing parents. So last month we decided to get a little bit hormonal in the hopes that they would you know…leave us alone." Laura looked sheepish and turned away under his stare.

"You did this for some peace?" he asked incredulously. Teyla then said, "Yes. Its also working." Laura nodded in agreement. Beckett sighed and said, "Alright. You are right. But they are only worried about you. However I won't say anything. But you've got them in a right state. At least you're both due at the end of the month. God help us." He smiled at both of the women and left them to it. He had to admit at least to himself that it was an ingenious plan although he would never admit it to them of course.

Laura was practically screaming the infirmary down. Beckett had found her a couple of weeks earlier and had told her that they would be inducing her. When she had asked why she had been told that it was just because she was having twins. She had told Evan and he had gone into overdrive following her everywhere. Which Teyla had found very amusing. Now she was squeezing Evan's hand so hard she felt the bones crush in her grasp. This was nothing compared to the pain that she herself was going through but at least she had something to do. A couple of hours later Laura had given birth to two twin boys. They had already decided on the names Phil and Jack. Laura was fast asleep when everyone had come in to see how things were going and Lorne was nursing a very sore hand. A week later Teyla gave birth to a bouncing baby boy named Joey Tagan.

A/N: In the next chapter I'm gonna skip a few years so that I can avoid the baby and toddler years. Thanks for sticking with me. Very sorry about the slow updates.


	44. Authors note

**Very sorry everyone. But I'm afraid I'm going to stop writing this story for now as I have ran out of ideas for this story. Its pretty bad writers block. But I would like to say thank you for reading and leaving your reviews. Also enjoy season 4!!! You never know I may get some inspiration!!! Lol.**


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